From October 17 – 21, 2016, the Consultancy Meeting to Finalize the IAEA Technical Document on Current Approaches to, and Applications for, the Management of Design Knowledge Related to Nuclear Facilities was held in Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research & Design Institute (SNERDI). Senior Vice President of State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC) and President of SNERDI, Dr. ZHENG Mingguang, experts from IAEA and knowledge management team from SNERDI attended the meeting.

Dr. ZHENG presented the general approaches, critical measures and targets of design knowledge management in SNERDI. He indicated that advanced and specialized knowledge in nuclear engineering and science is required for the safe and effective design, construction, licensing, commissioning, operation, maintenance, and decommissioning of nuclear technology-based systems.

IAEA highly appreciated the opinions from SNERDI, and they emphasized that the safe use of licensed nuclear facilities and technologies is reliant on the ongoing availability and maintenance of suitable knowledge and expertise, and an adequate understanding of related safety issues. Appropriate methods and supporting technology are needed to establish and manage nuclear competencies, information and records, work processes, analysis and verification techniques, and the interpretation of data.

The consultancy meeting provided an opportunity to share experiences and lessons learned in the nuclear sector related to managing nuclear knowledge and to share practical approaches to knowledge management that can be used at the organizational, national, and international levels to develop and maintain a strong nuclear knowledge base.