RSICC Home Page RSICC DATA LIBRARY DLC-237
1. NAME AND TITLE OF DATA LIBRARY
SINBAD V2.X: Shielding Integral Benchmark Archive and Database.
2. CONTRIBUTORS
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Nuclear Energy Agency Data Bank, Boulogne-Billancourt, France.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Many of the organizations that contributed to this benchmark compilation are listed in the wiki pages of the SINBAD GitLab repository.
RESTRICTIONS RSICC can license eligible persons located in Canada and the U.S. for access to Volume 1 of SINBAD Version 2. RSICC can license all eligible customers for access to Volume 2 of SINBAD Version 2. Customers located outside of Canada or the U.S. will be referred to the OECD NEA Data Bank for access to Volume 1 of SINBAD Version 2.
3. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND INFORMATION
SINBAD began in 1992–93, prompted by the continued closure of experimental facilities worldwide. The loss of benchmark experimental facilities jeopardizes the future of new shielding data. Furthermore, the loss of lab notes and/or logbook records from poor document storage and/or aging—together with the loss of guidance from retirements of key experimental staff— means that complete benchmark data is at a premium under today’s strict quality assurance requirements. The decision was made to collect, recompile, and distribute benchmark information in formats acceptable to the international community in an attempt to preserve and disseminate the information. The data integrity was checked, and reference sources were examined for self-consistency. At times, full benchmark information was gathered from multiple sources, including personal contacts and laboratory logbooks.
The guidelines developed by the Benchmark Problems Group of the American Nuclear Society Standards Committee (ANS-6) on formats for benchmark problem descriptions have been followed. SINBAD data include benchmark information on (1) the experimental facility and the source; (2) the benchmark geometry and composition; and (3) the detection system, measured data, and an error analysis. A reference section is included with the data. Relevant graphical information, such as experimental geometry or spectral data, is included. All information that is compiled for inclusion with SINBAD has been verified for accuracy and reviewed by two scientists.
The Shielding Integral Benchmark Archive and Database (SINBAD) contains benchmark compilations and numerical intercomparison exercises to validate or verify radiation shielding simulations for nuclear fission and fusion reactors and accelerator facilities.
The work on SINBAD is jointly carried out by the RSICC and the OECD NEA. At the NEA the Expert Group on Physics of Reactor Systems (EGPRS) is mandated to monitor gaps and steer the development of SINBAD in collaboration with RSICC. The development itself is managed by the EGPRS SINBAD Task Force.
4. APPLICATION OF THE DATA
SINBAD is an electronic database developed to store a variety of radiation shielding benchmark data so that users can easily retrieve and incorporate the data into their calculations. The high accuracy of benchmark experimental data allows checks for quality assurance in user’s computations or with new experimental results. The user may find a lack of experimental data in some energy regions, which could become a focus for future computations and experiments. New data libraries containing revised cross sections can be verified and validated, drawing comparisons to previous cross section data releases. New information on benchmark results—such as new computations, revised data results, and errors in data generation—will be provided as updates to this library, so users will find up-to-date applications in computational-ready formats.
5. SOURCE AND SCOPE OF DATA
An international effort between the OECD NEA and ORNL Radiation Safety Information Computational Center (RSICC) and invaluable contributions from many international nuclear data experts to the compilation, validation, and review of the data combined to create this database. SINBAD is an excellent data source for users who require the quality assurance necessary in developing cross section libraries or radiation transport codes. The future needs of the scientific community are best served by the electronic database format of SINBAD and its user-friendly interface, combined with its data accuracy and integrity.
This release of SINBAD includes a large set of fission shielding benchmarks, fusion neutronics shielding benchmarks, and accelerator shielding benchmarks. The experimental results are distributed in tabular ASCII format that can easily be exported to different computer environments for further use.
The benchmarks provide information to fully describe the experimental parameters in a modern-day computational model. Relevant engineering details of the experimental configuration are included with the physics equations and theory to provide the user with an understanding of the principles of the benchmark and the way data were collected. The full benchmark information includes the source of radiation, its energy, angle, and strength; the materials tested and their compositions, tolerances, temperatures, and physical arrangement; and the detectors, their locations, data results, resolution limits, response curves, and unfolding code references. Included are statistical error analyses of the measurements.
6. DISCUSSION OF THE DATA RETRIEVAL PROGRAM
The SINBAD repository includes wiki pages including indexed and hyperlinked tables providing the shield material, year of publication, laboratory, shield-type, and directory name of each entry. The table is hyperlinked to the repositories of the data entries.
7. DATA FORMAT AND COMPUTER
SINBAD Version 2 is maintained on a GitLab site managed by the OECD NEA Data Bank. The content of the GitLab site includes a variety of file formats including PDF and ASCII text files.
SINBAD Version 2 is designed to be a dynamic database and thus the content of the volumes is expected to change over time. A licensee will also get access to all future versions of the SINBAD database as long as the user maintains a valid license.
8. TYPICAL RUNNING TIME
Not applicable.
9. REFERENCES
a. Documentation:
I.Kodeli, E. Sartori and B. Kirk, “SINBAD - Shielding Benchmark Experiments - Status and Planned Activities,” Proceedings of the ANS 14th Biennial Topical Meeting of Radiation Protection and Shielding Division, Carlsbad, New Mexico (April 3-6, 2006).
NEA (2023), "SINBAD Update and Distribution Process, Version 1.1”, OECD Publishing, Paris, NEA/NSC/WPRS/DOC(2022)6
b. Other useful documentation:
"SINBAD - Radiational Shielding Benchmark Experiments" I. Kodeli and E. Sartori Annals of Nuclear Energy, Volume 159, 1 September 2021, 108254, ISSN 0306-4549, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2021.108254 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anucene.2021.108254
Ivo Kodeli, Kodeli, Hamilton Hunter, Enrico Sartori, “Radiation Shielding and Dosimetry Experiments Updates in the SINBAD Database,” Radiation Protection Dosimetry (2005), Vol 116, No.1–4, pp.558–561 http://rpd.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/116/1-4/558.
10. CONTENTS OF CODE PACKAGE
SINBAD Version 2 is made available on a GitLab repository managed by the OECD NEA. The contents of the SINBAD Version 2 database are described in the SINBAD Wiki page:https://git.oecd-nea.org/sinbad/sinbad.v2/wiki.
Volume 1 of Version 2 contains shielding benchmarks contributed by OECD-NEA member countries.
Volume 2 of Version 2 contains shielding benchmarks contributed by RSICC.
RESTRICTIONS RSICC can license eligible persons located in Canada and the U.S. for access to Volume 1 of SINBAD Version 2. RSICC can license all eligible customers for access to Volume 2 of SINBAD Version 2. Customers located outside of Canada or the U.S. will be referred to the OECD NEA Data Bank for access to Volume 1 of SINBAD Version 2.
12. DATE OF ABSTRACT
April 2025
KEYWORDS: BENCHMARK PROBLEM CROSS SECTIONS; BENCHMARK NEUTRON FIELDS; DATABASE; DETECTOR RESPONSE