The conference had a record high attendance, with almost 500 representatives of government bodies, companies and research centers from 61 countries. The opening speech was delivered by IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano who stated that knowledge management in the nuclear industry was of exceptional importance and required long-term efforts to be continued even after abandonment of nuclear power. “Effective knowledge management is vital for achieving success in every industry, and nuclear is no exception. Any nuclear power program requires a long-term national commitment of people and resources and it is essential that specialist knowledge is shared and maintained,” Mr. Amano said.
Continuous management and maintenance of technical knowledge are as important for emerging nuclear countries as for developed nuclear states, where the entire generation of nuclear engineers begins to retire.
Vyacheslav Pershukov, Rosatom Deputy CEO for Innovation Management, pointed out that the need to maintain and manage nuclear knowledge was triggered by several factors, among them economic and safety requirements, as well as the need to preserve design and construction knowledge, foster global scientific cooperation and develop human resources in the industry. “Operators, regulators, public organizations and private companies use approaches and tools of nuclear knowledge management to improve business processes and performance,” Mr. Pershukov said. He also reminded that Rosatom was, in the first line, a knowledge corporation, with competencies being a priority.
“Nuclear safety is a continuous effort rather than a target. It is therefore extremely important that the countries embarking on nuclear are ready to establish and sustain the national infrastructure of nuclear knowledge as a foundation for safe utilization of nuclear power,” Pershukov said. He also stressed that the joint action plan of Rosatom and the IAEA covered many crucial aspects of nuclear knowledge management and would bring benefits for all IAEA member states.
At the conference, Rosatom’s delegates shared their knowledge maintenance and management practices that are especially important for emerging nuclear countries. Another important conference event was a partnership agreement signed by Rosatom’s ASE Engineering Group and the French software developer Dassault Systèmes. It will allow ASE to expand the use of 3D EXPERIENCE platform in Rusatom International Network (RIN) Multi-D-based solutions for the design, construction and operation of large facilities.
