[en] The nuclear energy sector is characterized by lengthy time frames and technical excellence. Early nuclear plants were designed to operate for 40 years but their service life now frequently extends between 50 and 60 years. Decommissioning and decontamination of nuclear plants will also be spread over several years resulting in a life cycle - from cradle to grave - in excess of 100 years, which gives rise to two challenges for the nuclear industry: (1) Retention of existing skills and competencies for a period of over fifty years, particularly in countries where no new nuclear power plants are being planned; and (2) Development of new skills and competencies in the areas of decommissioning and radioactive waste management in many industrialized countries if younger workers cannot continue to be attracted to the nuclear disciplines. As many nuclear experts around the world are retiring, they are taking with them a substantial amount of knowledge and corporate memory. Typically, these retirees are individuals who can answer questions very easily and who possess tacit knowledge never before extracted from them. The loss of such employees who hold knowledge critical to either operations or safety poses a clear internal threat to the safe and reliable operation of nuclear power plants (NPPs). Therefore, the primary challenge of preserving such knowledge is to determine how best to capture tacit knowledge and transfer it to successors. These problems are exacerbated by the deregulation of energy markets around the world. The nuclear industry is now required to reduce its costs dramatically in order to compete with generators that have different technology life cycle profiles. In many countries, government funding has been dramatically reduced or has disappeared altogether while the profit margins of generators have been severely squeezed. The result has been lower electricity prices but also the loss of expertise as a result of downsizing to reduce salary costs, a loss of research facilities to reduce operating costs and a decline in support to the universities to reduce overheads. The above factors have led to a reduction in technical innovation and a potential loss of technical competences that have drawn the attention of many concerned parties to the need for effective strategies and policies for nuclear knowledge management. The Director General of the IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei, in his statement to the forty-seventh regular session of the IAEA General Conference 2003, said: 'Whether or not nuclear power witnesses an expansion in the coming decades, it is essential that we preserve nuclear scientific and technical competence for the safe operation of existing facilities and applications. Effective management of nuclear knowledge should include succession planning for the nuclear work force, the maintenance of the 'nuclear safety case' for operational reactors, and retention of the nuclear knowledge accumulated over the past six decades'. This report is intended for senior and middle level managers of nuclear industry operating organizations and provides practical information that can be used to improve knowledge management (KM) in such organizations. The information provided in this report is based upon actual experiences of Member State operating organizations as well as other related industries. The Nuclear Power Industry's Ageing Workforce: Transfer of Knowledge to the Next Generation, IAEA-TECDOC-1399, highlighted some of the knowledge management issues in Member States resulting from the large number of retiring NPP personnel who had been involved with the commissioning and initial operation of NPPs. This report complements that publication by broadening the scope of KM strategic issues, methods and techniques for nuclear industry operating organizations