An investigation of the Therac-25 accidents
The work
| Authors | Nancy G. Leveson; C. S. Turner |
|---|---|
| Editors | |
| Type | article |
| Year | 1993 |
| Citekey | leveson1993investigation |
Where it appeared
| Published in | Computer |
|---|---|
| Publisher | IEEE |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue | 7 |
| Pages | 18--41 |
Identifiers
| DOI | 10.1109/mc.1993.274940 |
|---|
Access
| Landing page | https://doi.org/10.1109/mc.1993.274940 |
|---|---|
| Free full text | https://escholarship.org/content/qt5dr206s3/qt5dr206s3.pdf?t=qeyo8c |
Empty on purpose
| copy |
Related
| Distinct from | hoare1996how |
|---|---|
| Distinct from | leveson1995medical |
Abstract
Between June 1985 and January 1987, the Therac-25 medical electron accelerator was involved in six massive radiation overdoses. As a result, several people died and others were seriously injured. A detailed investigation of the factors involved in the software-related overdoses and attempts by users, manufacturers, and government agencies to deal with the accidents is presented. The authors demonstrate the complex nature of accidents and the need to investigate all aspects of system development and operation in order to prevent future accidents. The authors also present some lessons learned in terms of system engineering, software engineering, and government regulation of safety-critical systems containing software components.
How it got here
| How it got here | agent via unpaywall |
|---|---|
| Added | 2026-08-10 00:00 UTC |
| Not denied by | a person 2026-10-29 17:12 UTC |
Filed under
Cite it as
@article{leveson1993investigation,
title = {An investigation of the Therac-25 accidents},
author = {Nancy G. Leveson and C. S. Turner},
year = {1993},
journal = {Computer},
publisher = {IEEE},
volume = {26},
number = {7},
pages = {18--41},
doi = {10.1109/mc.1993.274940},
}
This record lives at https://refs.drheap.org/leveson1993investigation/ and will keep doing so.