Nuclear Knowledge Management

Nuclear knowledge has been developed and accumulated over decades of research and development of nuclear technologies for power and non power applications. It is expected that large parts of this knowledge will be used in the future, not only for existing nuclear installations, but also, for future innovations and socioeconomic development. Unfortunately, the present status of nuclear knowledge and its management remains in an unsatisfactory condition. Since nuclear knowledge is unique in many ways, managing this knowledge requires specific programmes and needs to achieve specific objectives. Good management of nuclear knowledge, however, can contribute to economics, safety and innovation. The establishment of the IAEA constituted the nuclear knowledge management. After the initial phase, the development of nuclear knowledge for civilian applications relied predominantly on an empirical approach. Priority was given to experiments, and the data collected was applied without the benefit of comprehensive analyses. The need for a systematic and consistent description of that knowledge was recognized, but the level of computer development and information technology was simply insufficient to create meaningful databases. (author)