The International Reactor Physics Experiment Evaluation Project (IRPhEP)

Since the beginning of the Nuclear Power industry, numerous experiments concerned with nuclear energy and technology have been performed at different research laboratories, worldwide. These experiments required a large investment in terms of infrastructure, expertise, and cost; however, many were performed without a high degree of attention to archival of results for future use. The degree and quality of documentation varies greatly. There is an urgent need to preserve integral reactor physics experimental data, including measurement methods, techniques, and separate or special effects data for nuclear energy and technology applications and the knowledge and competence contained therein. If the data are compromised, it is unlikely that any of these experiments will be repeated again in the future. The International Reactor Physics Evaluation Project (IRPhEP) was initiated, as a pilot activity in 1999 by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) Nuclear Science Committee (NSC). The project was endorsed as an official activity of the NSC in June of 2003. The purpose of the IRPhEP is to provide an extensively peer reviewed set of reactor physics related integral benchmark data that can be used by reactor designers and safety analysts to validate the analytical tools used to design next generation reactors and establish the safety basis for operation of these reactors. A short history of the IRPhEP is presented and its purposes are discussed in this paper. Accomplishments of the IRPhEP, including the first publication of the IRPhEP Handbook, are highlighted and the future of the project outlined. (author)