Abstract
Two projects sanctioned by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) have over two decades of experience developing established and comprehensive data sets in handbooks supporting criticality safety and reactor physics. The International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP) and the International Reactor Physics Experiment Evaluation Project (IRPhEP) serve as examples of quality and excellence in preserving our experimental data heritage and establishing integral benchmark standards upon which current and future modeling, validation, and safety efforts can be supported. Evaluation practices have evolved with each year of these projects to include additional benchmark experiment data, establish more comprehensive techniques for evaluation of uncertainties and biases, and encourage established high-quality peer-review efforts. This paper will summarize the current format of the handbooks, best-practices for a comprehensive benchmark evaluation, recent activities and protocol within these projects, and a look into future identified needs and activities.
Highlights
In October 1992, the United States Department of Energy (US DOE) initiated the Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (CSBEP), which quickly became an international effort and an official activity of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) in 1995, as the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP)
Over two decades of international collaboration have led to the development of the well-established international standard of benchmark excellence contained within the International Handbook of Evaluated Criticality Safety Benchmark Experiments (ICSBEP Handbook)
The capabilities and expertise developed through collaborative international benchmark efforts has since contributed to the successful development and implementation of a similar project supporting reactor physics: the International Reactor Physics Experiment Evaluation Project (IRPhEP)
Summary
[2] The contents of the ICSBEP include benchmark specifications that have been derived from experiments performed at various nuclear facilities worldwide These benchmark specifications are intended for use by criticality safety engineers to validate their calculation techniques and establish margins for safe use of fissile material. [5] The IRPhEP Handbook provides benchmark specifications intended for use by reactor designers, safety analysts, and nuclear data evaluators to validate computational techniques and data. These handbooks are available freely to member countries of the OECD NEA and countries actively participating in their respective international benchmark projects
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