Nuclear knowledge
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Contents
Definition
Nuclear knowledge is Knowledge in the nuclear domain. Nuclear knowledge is characterised by a unique combination of factors which make the management of it particularly challenging, these are: fragmentation, safety, complexity, government involvement, high costs, long timescales, international cooperation and education.
Summary
Nuclear knowledge is unique due to its main characteristics: safety, complexity, governement involvement due to high costs and long timescales, international cooperation and comprehensive education.
Description
Nuclear knowledge is unique in many ways — different from knowledge developed and used in other industrial domains.
- First of all, the safety of nuclear facilities must be considered. This includes security aspects as well as non-proliferation issues which are due to the dual (peaceful and non-peaceful) nature of nuclear technology, and of high public concern.
- Nuclear knowledge is complex, involving many different areas of expertise, such as physical, chemical, radiological and biological interactions of materials as well as the sociological, economic, political and security aspects, which must all be considered as a whole. As a consequence, development costs are high, often requiring significant governmental support.
- Nuclear knowledge must be developed and retained over long time frames to service operational nuclear facilities and over even longer time frames to enable global sustainable growth. As further elucidated below, these unique characteristics make efforts to effectively manage nuclear knowledge most desirable or even mandatory.
- For the development of nuclear knowledge, cooperation is essential, since many individuals, organizations and Member States have legitimate cause for both contributing to and accessing the nuclear knowledge base.
- Education is the fundament for people to acquire the experiences and insights needed to create new knowledge and apply it to emerging challenges.
In response to an increased awareness of the importance to manage nuclear knowledge in many Member States, the IAEA has published a number of technical guidance documents, including nuclear management objectives [1] containing the highest level issues for knowledge management that are commonly agreed as being relevant and applicable to activities in the nuclear sector.
Basic scientific nuclear knowledge has been accumulating for around one hundred years but this has been further enhanced through practical experience of its application over the last sixty years. The combination of this ‘pure and applied’ nuclear knowledge has brought our understanding to its current mature stage, with significant contributions being made to a wide variety of secondary applications. However, this extensive portfolio of nuclear knowledge — often derived with government support — is beginning to exceed present commercial demand with the consequence that some of it is in danger of being permanently lost. The risk is compounded by the fact that there is an absence of effective systems for transferring the knowledge between successive generations.
A wide variety of stakeholders will legitimately claim an interest in managing, using, applying, developing and sharing nuclear knowledge — each with their own objectives, requirements, and limitations.
Safety, Security and Non-Proliferation
Ensuring safety requires professional people with good education and training, wide experience and knowledge, as well as the availability of high quality, up-to-date documentation. The loss of nuclear safety knowledge, outdated knowledge not reflecting the state of the art (particularly the feedback on international operation experience), or lack of access to up-to-date nuclear knowledge imposes a considerable risk on the safe operation of nuclear facilities. With respect to safety, a sharing culture between organizations, also on international levels, is mandatory.
In contrast, safeguard requirements concerning security and non-proliferation issues may demand restrictions on sharing information and knowledge. Therefore, an appropriate balance in managing nuclear knowledge is required between nuclear safety and safeguards requirement
Complexity
High cost
Long term development and utilization
Importance of international cooperation
Nuclear knowledge has been used successfully in the past by many countries as a catalyst for socioeconomic development. It is becoming increasingly clear that a wide range of benefits can be obtained from the appropriate use of nuclear power and other nuclear applications. However, the ‘appropriate’ use presupposes a certain level of maturity in the industrial and societal context, especially in terms of accountability and decision making systems and a general awareness and understanding of nuclear issues beyond mere technological aspects. Hence, it is not surprising that international cooperation has played a crucial role in the development of nuclear knowledge right from the very beginning of its application for civilian purposes. Indeed, the importance of international cooperation to any country embarking on a nuclear programme today is a unique characteristic of nuclear science and technology.
Government involvement
Owing to the long term return on investment compared with other industries, as well as safety, security and non-proliferation issues, a high level of government involvement and close monitoring of activities is essential during the development, application and transfer of nuclear knowledge. This involvement is necessary not only to underwrite a large portion of the development cost but also to manage nuclear liability (including its trans boundary nature), nuclear safety concerns and the prevention of nuclear knowledge misuse under all circumstances.
Education
Historical development of nuclear knowledge
Current status of nuclear knowledge
