BNL-52675
Formal Report

A CSEWG Retrospective

November 5, 2001
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Upton, NY

Introduction

This publication has been prepared to record some of the history of the Cross Section Evaluation Working Group (CSEWG). CSEWG is responsible for creating the evaluated nuclear data file (ENDF/B) which is widely used by scientists and engineers who are involved in the development and maintenance of applied nuclear technologies.

This organization has become the model for the development of nuclear data libraries throughout the world. The Evaluated Nuclear Data Format (ENDF) has been adopted as the international standard.

On November 5, 2001, a symposium was held at Brookhaven National Laboratory to celebrate the 50th meeting of the CSEWG organization and the 35th anniversary of its first meeting in November 1966. The papers presented in this volume were prepared by present and former CSEWG members for presentation at the November 2001 symposium. All but two of the presentations are included.

I have included an appendix to list all of the CSEWG members and their affiliations, which has been compiled from the minutes of each of the CSEWG meetings. Minutes exist for all meetings except the 4th meeting held in January 1968. The list includes 348 individuals from 71 organizations. The dates for each of the 50 CSEWG meetings are listed. The committee structure and chairmen of all committees and subcommittees are also included in the appendix.

This volume is dedicated to three individuals whose foresight and talents made CSEWG possible and successful. They are Henry Honeck who lead the effort to develop the ENDF format and the CSEWG system, Ira Zartman, the Atomic Energy Commission program manager who provided the programmatic direction and support, and Sol Pearlstein who led the development of the CESWG organization and the ENDF/B evaluated nuclear data library.

Charles Dunford
Brookhaven National Laboratory
November 12, 2002