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Relativistic electrons are hazardous for satellites and humans in space. In this study, we present a detailed description of the Versatile Electron Radiation Belt (VERB) code. The computationally efficient methods described in this report make the VERB code a useful tool for space weather forecasting and nowcasting of the relativistic electron environment. The computational efficiency of the code makes it also appropriate for future use with data assimilation tools to specify the state of the radiation environment and correct imperfect models. We also present several skill scores which can be used to quantify the state of the relativistic electron environment. Our numerical approach is based on the use of two grids: one for radial diffusion and the other for energy and pitch angle diffusion. In this paper, we describe the initial and boundary conditions, the grids and time step used for our simulations, and the tests we conduct …