International Nuclear Data Network

The Nuclear Data Centers Network is a world-wide cooperation of nuclear data centers organized under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It was established to coordinate the collection, compilation, and dissemination of nuclear data on an international scale. Nuclear data centers provide the essential link between the producers and the users of nuclear data for a particular nation or multi-national area. The Centers feel that customer service is the cornerstone of their work. Each is envolved in collecting, compiling, standardizing, storing, assessing, and distributing the vast amount of nuclear data that currently exist or will be produced and needed in the future. However, no one center has the assets to do everything on its own. Only through an international cooperation of interested groups of scientists in different organizations in different countries can the objective be realized. This approach reduces duplication of effort and maximizes the use of specialized expertise through each of the cooperating centers. The Network is coordinated through regular meetings organized by the IAEA Nuclear Data Section and through direct communications among the centers. The rules and procedures for the compilation and exchange of data files and agreements on worksharing among the centres concerning data aquisition and services to customers are determined during Network meetings. Each center has agreed to assume responsibility for one or more tasks within the Network for which it has both unique expertise and resources. Information collected or produced in any participating Center is available without restriction to any of the other Centers that are party to the agreement. This information is available cost free to each Center's customers.

Network Objective and Tasks

Dissemination of nuclear data and associated documentation to users is the primary goal of the Network. In order to accomplish this goal, the following specific tasks must be carried out: Compilation of relevant bibliographic information, Compilation of experimental nuclear data, Collection of evaluated nuclear data, Exchange of nuclear data of all types, Promotion of the development of special purpose evaluated data files, Development of common formats for computerized exchange of nuclear data, Coordinated development of computer software for managing and disseminating nuclear data, Coordination of the development and dissemination of end-user software for both online and local access to nuclear data, and Documentation of current and future data needs in order to be able to meet changing user demands.

Data Evaluation Efforts

The Network recognizes the importance of separately coordinated nuclear data evaluation activities, and acknowledges that the availability of evaluated nuclear data files is essential to the Network's ability to fulfull ists responsibilities to the user community.

Core Nuclear Data Centers

The following Centers currently have the special status of core Nuclear Data Centers: National Nuclear Data Center, Upton, NY, USA; Nuclear Energy Agency Data Bank, Paris; International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria Institute of Physics and Power Engineering, Obninsk, Russia; and Kurchatov Institute, Moscow, Russia. These centers provide coordinated, world-wide customer services covering the entire range of nuclear data as described above. These core centers also provide complete world-wid compilation of experimental neutron reaction data and related bibliographic resources.

Other Nuclear Data Centers

There are other nuclear data centers around the world that form an important part of the nuclear data network: Japanese Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute