The latest edition of the International Handbook of Evaluated Reactor Physics Benchmark Experiments (IRPhE Handbook) is now available. It contains reactor physics benchmark specifications that have been derived from experiments performed at nuclear facilities around the world.
The benchmark specifications are intended for use by reactor designers, safety analysts and nuclear data evaluators to validate calculational techniques and data. The handbook is a product of the International Reactor Physics Evaluation (IRPhE) Project, conducted by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA).
The 2021 edition contains data from 169 experimental series that were performed at 57 nuclear facilities. Of the experimental series, 165 have been published as approved benchmarks and the remaining four as draft documents. All draft documents were reviewed by the International Reactor Physics Evaluation (IRPhE) Technical Review Group (TRG), which is chaired by Mark DeHart (Idaho National Laboraty) and vice-chaired by Patrick Blaise (CEA, or French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission). In addition, the handbook contains a version of the IRPhE Database and Analysis Tool (IDAT), which can be used to identify relevant experimental reactor physics benchmarks for particular systems.
The cover of the handbook shows the ZPR-9 machine at Argonne National Laboratory-East in Illinois to support development of a gas-cooled fast reactor (GCFR) in the United States. Newly evaluated criticality, control worth, and spectral characteristics measurements from the ZPR-9 have been added to this edition of the handbook
The latest edition of the IRPhE Handbook is currently available by download only, while DVDs will be available in January 2023.
Requests to obtain the DVD or online access can be made here.
