The International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (ICSBEP) Handbook contains criticality safety benchmark specifications that have been derived from experiments that were performed at various critical facilities around the world. The benchmark specifications are intended for use by criticality and safety analysts as well as nuclear data evaluators to validate calculational techniques and data. The handbook is produced by the ICSBEP working group, under the aegis of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA). While co-ordination and administration of the ICSBEP is undertaken by the NEA, each participating country is responsible for the administration, technical direction, and priorities of the project within their respective countries. Access to some of the information and data included in this handbook may be restricted.

The evaluated criticality safety benchmark data in the 2022/23 edition are presented in nine volumes. These volumes span over 80 000 pages and contain 598 evaluations with benchmark specifications for 5 159 critical, near-critical or subcritical configurations, 49 criticality alarm placement/shielding configurations with multiple dose points for each, and 238 configurations which have been categorised as fundamental physics measurements that are relevant to criticality safety applications.

New to the handbook are one benchmark for fundamental physics, three criticality alarm placement shielding benchmarks, and nine critical, near-critical or subcritical benchmarks. Among them, the Molybdenum-sleeve experiments in a UO2 fuel lattice performed at Sandia National Laboratory, pictured on the front cover.

The 2022/2023 edition is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1787/110ba6fc-en