OECD-NEA Expert Group on Multi-Physics Experimental Data, Benchmarks and Validation

International audienceHigh-fidelity, multi-physics modeling and simulation (MetS) tools are being developed and utilized for a variety of applications in nuclear science and technology and show great promise in their abilities to reproduce observed phenomena for many applications. Even with the increasing fidelity and sophistication of coupled multi-physics MetS tools, the underpinning models and data still need to be validated against experiments that may require a more complex array of validation data because of the great breadth of the time, energy and spatial domains of the physical phenomena that are being simulated. The expert group on Multi-Physics Experimental Data, Benchmarks and Validation (MPEBV) of the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) was formed to address the challenges with the validation of such tools. The work of the MPEBV expert group is shared among three task forces to fulfill its mandate and specific exercises are being developed to demonstrate validation principles for common industrial challenges. This paper describes the overall mission of the group, the specific objectives of the task forces, the linkages among the task forces, and the development of a validation exercise that focuses on a specific reactor challenge problem