Current overview of ICSBEP and IRPhEP benchmark evaluation practices

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.