Chair(s): |
Caleb MATTOON, United States |
Secretary: |
Andrew HOLCOMB (andrew.holcomb@oecd-nea.org) |
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Member(s): | All NEA member countries* | ||
Russia (Suspended*) | |||
*Russian Federation suspended pursuant to a decision of the OECD Council. | |||
EU participation: |
The European Union (EU) takes part in the work of the NEA, in accordance with the NEA Statute and the Supplementary Protocol to the Convention on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. | ||
Observer(s)(International Organisation): |
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) By agreement | ||
Date of creation: | 31 May 2016 | ||
End of mandate: | 31 May 2025 |
Mandate (Document reference):
Mandate (Document extract):
Extract from document [NEA/NSC/WPEC/DOC(2023)2]
Background
The Evaluated Nuclear Data File format (ENDF-6) has had a long and fruitful history as the preferred format for storing and exchanging evaluated nuclear data. Together with processing codes, it plays a pivotal role connecting nuclear physicists and reactor physicists, allowing them to exchange data between different computer codes. Today, however, it is showing signs of age. In particular, the ENDF-6 format places unnecessary limitations on the types of reactions and the level of precision at which data can be stored, making it more difficult to ensure the quality and consistency of data. Modern users are applying nuclear data towards solving a broad range of problems (in medical physics, global security and advanced detector designs, among others) that stretch the ENDF-6 format beyond its original design.
The Subgroup 38 (SG38) of the Working Party on International Nuclear Data Evaluation Cooperation (WPEC) was formed to solicit feedback from international stakeholders and develop a new General Nuclear Database Structure (GNDS) for storing nuclear data to replace the legacy ENDF-6 format. The SG38 has met its stated goal to develop a nuclear data structure definition that can meet the needs of a broad set of nuclear data users and providers.
The Expert Group on the Recommended Definition of a General Nuclear Database Structure (EGGNDS or Expert Group) was established in 2016 and became the steward of a new international definition for the modern nuclear database structure. EGGNDS delivered the first public specifications for GNDS-1.9 in 2020. The group has finalized the GNDS-2.0 specifications (to be published in 2023) and is beginning to work on changes for the next version of the specifications.
Mandate
EGGNDS is an international expert group, under the WPEC, aiming to endorse, promote, and maintain the new format as the GNDS international standard for disseminating nuclear reaction databases.
Objectives
This Expert Group will make the GNDS:
Other goals of the EGGNDS include the development of better open source infrastructure to manipulate, search, plot, process, translate and check nuclear data and the development of new nuclear data products heretofore not possible. The EGGNDS will ensure that important and useful tools for using the new recommended definition are developed and maintained.
The EGGNDS will also guide the creation of new infrastructure and promote better evaluation practices. It is anticipated that it will release new GNDS versions with appropriate documentation as necessary, without overburdening stakeholders.
Deliverables
The Expert Group will ensure the recommended definition of the GNDS meets the needs of major international nuclear data communities. In addition, the EGGNDS will aim to do the following during the mandate period: