The International Reactor Physics Experiments Evaluation Project (IRPhEP) was launched in 1999 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Nuclear Science Committee (NSC). While co-ordination and administration of the IRPhEP is managed at the international level by the NEA, each participating country is responsible for the administration, technical direction and priorities of the project within their respective countries. The information and data included in this handbook are available to NEA member countries, to all contributing countries and to others on a case-by-case basis.
This handbook contains reactor physics benchmark specifications that have been derived from experiments performed at various nuclear facilities around the world. The benchmark specifications are intended for use by reactor designers, safety analysts and nuclear data evaluators to validate calculation techniques and data. Example calculations are presented; they do not, however, constitute validation or endorsement of the codes or cross-section data.
The 2013 edition of the International Handbook of Evaluated Reactor Physics Benchmark Experiments contains data from 130 experimental series performed at 47 reactor facilities. One hundred twenty-six of the 130 evaluations are published as approved benchmarks; the remaining four are published as draft documents only.
New to the handbook are benchmark specifications for selected measurements on the very-high-temperature reactor critical assembly (VHTRC) which were performed at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) Tokai Research Establishment in Japan between 1985 and 1996.