International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project

Brief History of the CSBEP, ICSBEP and NCSP

In 1992, the Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project (CSBEP) was founded under the auspices of US DOE Office of Defense Programs by Mr. Dae Chung with criticality safety experts participating from across the US DOE Complex:

Dr. Angela Chambers

Dr. Angela Chambers
Manager
Nuclear Criticality
Safety Program

  • Argonne National Laboratory
  • Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory
  • Hanford
  • Idaho National Laboratory
  • Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
  • Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Oak Ridge National Laboratory
  • Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
  • Sandia National Laboratories
  • Rocky Flats Plant
  • Savannah River National Laboratory
  • Y-12 Plant

In 1994, the CSBEP welcomed its first international participants from France, Hungary, Japan, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom.

In 1995, to further enhance international participation, the DOE allowed the CSBEP to become an official activity of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), Working Party on Nuclear Criticality Safety (WPNCS), and the name was changed to the International Criticality Safety Evaluation Project (ICSBEP).

In 1997, the Nuclear Criticality Safety Program (NCSP) was formally established by DOE under the auspices of the Office of Defense Programs.

Today, the ICSBEP remains an important element of the US DOE NCSP as described by Dr. Angela Chambers in the NCSP Mission and Vision. Current NCSP activities including ICSBEP participation are described in the Five-Year Execution Plan.