<s>
GoldSim	B-Application
is	O
dynamic	O
,	O
probabilistic	O
simulation	B-Application
software	I-Application
developed	O
by	O
GoldSim	B-Application
Technology	O
Group	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
general-purpose	O
simulator	O
is	O
a	O
hybrid	O
of	O
several	O
simulation	O
approaches	O
,	O
combining	O
an	O
extension	O
of	O
system	O
dynamics	O
with	O
some	O
aspects	O
of	O
discrete	B-General_Concept
event	I-General_Concept
simulation	I-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
embedding	O
the	O
dynamic	O
simulation	O
engine	O
within	O
a	O
Monte	B-Algorithm
Carlo	I-Algorithm
simulation	I-Algorithm
framework	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1990	O
,	O
Golder	O
Associates	O
,	O
an	O
international	O
engineering	O
consulting	O
firm	O
,	O
was	O
asked	O
by	O
the	O
United	O
States	O
Department	O
of	O
Energy	O
(	O
DOE	O
)	O
to	O
develop	O
probabilistic	O
simulation	B-Application
software	I-Application
that	O
could	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
help	O
with	O
decision	O
support	O
and	O
management	O
within	O
the	O
Office	O
of	O
Civilian	O
Radioactive	O
Waste	O
Management	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
results	O
of	O
this	O
effort	O
were	O
two	O
DOS-based	O
programs	O
(	O
RIP	O
and	O
STRIP	O
)	O
,	O
which	O
were	O
used	O
to	O
support	O
radioactive	O
waste	O
management	O
projects	O
within	O
the	O
DOE	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1996	O
,	O
in	O
an	O
effort	O
funded	O
by	O
Golder	O
Associates	O
,	O
the	O
US	O
DOE	O
,	O
the	O
Japan	O
Nuclear	O
Cycle	O
Development	O
Institute	O
(	O
currently	O
the	O
Japan	O
Atomic	O
Energy	O
Agency	O
)	O
and	O
the	O
Spanish	O
National	O
Radioactive	O
Waste	O
Company	O
(	O
ENRESA	O
)	O
,	O
the	O
capabilities	O
of	O
RIP	O
and	O
STRIP	O
were	O
incorporated	O
into	O
a	O
general	O
purpose	O
Windows-based	O
simulator	O
called	O
GoldSim	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Initially	O
only	O
offered	O
to	O
the	O
original	O
funding	O
organizations	O
,	O
GoldSim	B-Application
was	O
released	O
to	O
the	O
public	O
in	O
2002	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2004	O
,	O
GoldSim	B-Application
Technology	O
Group	O
LLC	O
was	O
spun	O
off	O
from	O
Golder	O
Associates	O
and	O
is	O
now	O
a	O
wholly	O
independent	O
company	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
GoldSim	B-Application
provides	O
a	O
visual	O
and	O
hierarchical	O
modeling	O
environment	O
,	O
which	O
allows	O
users	O
to	O
construct	O
models	O
by	O
adding	O
“	O
elements	O
”	O
(	O
model	O
objects	O
)	O
that	O
represent	O
data	O
,	O
equations	O
,	O
processes	O
or	O
events	O
,	O
and	O
linking	O
them	O
together	O
into	O
graphical	O
representations	O
that	O
resemble	O
influence	O
diagrams	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Complex	O
systems	O
can	O
be	O
translated	O
into	O
hierarchical	O
GoldSim	B-Application
models	O
by	O
creating	O
layer	O
of	O
“	O
containers	O
”	O
(	O
or	O
sub-models	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Though	O
it	O
is	O
primarily	O
a	O
continuous	O
simulator	O
,	O
GoldSim	B-Application
has	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
features	O
typically	O
associated	O
with	O
discrete	B-General_Concept
simulators	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
the	O
software	O
was	O
originally	O
developed	O
for	O
complex	O
environmental	O
applications	O
,	O
in	O
which	O
many	O
inputs	O
are	O
uncertain	O
and/or	O
stochastic	O
,	O
in	O
addition	O
to	O
being	O
a	O
dynamic	O
simulator	O
,	O
GoldSim	B-Application
is	O
a	O
Monte	B-Algorithm
Carlo	I-Algorithm
simulator	O
,	O
such	O
that	O
inputs	O
can	O
be	O
defined	O
as	O
distributions	O
and	O
the	O
entire	O
system	O
simulated	O
a	O
large	O
number	O
of	O
times	O
to	O
provide	O
probabilistic	O
outputs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
such	O
,	O
the	O
software	O
incorporates	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
computational	O
features	O
to	O
facilitate	O
probabilistic	O
simulation	O
of	O
complex	O
systems	O
,	O
including	O
tools	O
for	O
generating	O
and	O
correlating	O
stochastic	O
time	O
series	O
,	O
advanced	O
sampling	O
capabilities	O
(	O
including	O
latin	O
hypercube	O
sampling	O
,	O
nested	O
Monte	B-Algorithm
Carlo	I-Algorithm
analysis	I-Algorithm
,	O
and	O
importance	B-Algorithm
sampling	I-Algorithm
)	O
,	O
and	O
support	O
for	O
distributed	B-Architecture
processing	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
