Third International Conference on Nuclear Knowledge Management: Challenges and Approaches

Vienna, 7 – 11 November 2016

Cernavoda NPP Knowledge Transfer

CORNELIA MARIANA VALACHE

ROMANIA, CERNAVODA NPP TRAINING SPECIALIST

cvalache@yahoo.com

Status of nuclear power programme in Romania

Power

MW(e)

Type Operation since

Cernavoda 1 706,5 PHWR 1996

Cernavoda 2 704,8 PHWR 2007

Cernavoda 3 720 PHWR Under construction

Cernavoda 4 720 PHWR Under construction

Cernavoda 5 706,5 PHWR Work suspended

1 site, 5 CANDU Units

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Elements of Knowledge Management at Cernavoda NPP

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Why Knowledge Transfer?

• Refurbishment of U1

• Construction of 2 new units

Decreased number and experienced applicants for the 2 units in service

Personnel loss through the retirement or departing to other companies

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Objectives of KT

• Put in place a systematic approach in order to identify and preserve the critical tacit knowledge of our most experienced people in the organization,

• Identify the most suitable ways of storing, organizing and disseminating this knowledge in our organization.

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Knowledge Transfer a step-by-step process

2008 - an analysis was performed, to assess the status ofKnowledge Management at the organization level

2009 - efforts were made in order to identify the mostsuitable solutions applicable to Cernavoda NPP for thedevelopment and implementation of a reliable KT process

2012 - a station instruction describing the knowledge andskills transfer process was developed, based on theexperience of other nuclear power stations in this domain.

2012 - a pilot program started to be implemented, in order tovalidate the process described in the station instruction .

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Knowledge Transfer and Retention Process at Cernavoda NPP

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Knowledge Transfer and Retention Process at Cernavoda NPP (cont)

• Interviews were organized with the persons which have criticalknowledge and skills.

• The types of questions administered were:◦ General – about the type of knowledge and skills, roles played in

the organization, the ways of that person obtain the knowledgeand skills etc.

◦ Specific – about:− Work tasks (determined by the specific work area of the person),− Informations (facts about the people that person worked with, facts

about the systems, equipments, resources).− Pattern recognition knowledge and skills (events, trouble shootings, short

cuts etc.).

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Knowledge Transfer and Retention Process at Cernavoda NPP (cont)

The pilot program wassuccessfully implemented;for each interviewedperson actions have beenidentified to ensure thetransfer and preservationof the critical knowledge.

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KT Outputs

Knowledge Transfer and Retention Process at Cernavoda NPP (cont)

Major challenge

Involvement of the line managers in assessing employeeknowledge and skills criticality.

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Knowledge Transfer and Retention Process at Cernavoda NPP (cont)

Lesson learned

• A database should be designed from the beginning in order toensure the proper storage and dissemination of the informationgathered from the interviews and the actions resulted from theretention plans.

• The systematic approach of knowledge and skills transfer should beapplied also to those individuals that don’t have a maximum valuefor the total risk factor, but have the maximum value for theposition risk factor.

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Cernavoda NPP external cooperation in Knowledge Management

In 2010, a collaboration with the Institute for Nuclear Research, Pitesti,Romania was started on the IAEA CRP Project № 16373/R0 “IncreasingNPP Performance through Process oriented Knowledge ManagementApproach”.

A case study was developed “The Development and Implementation ofthe Knowledge Transfer and Preservation Process at Cernavoda NPP”.

A systematic analysis of the status of NKM process for Cernavoda NPPwas made. Also, the steps to perform a risk assessment and to select themost appropriate methods for knowledge elicitation, preservation andtransfer were identified.

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Cernavoda NPP external cooperation in Knowledge Management (cont)

Cernavoda NPP is playing an active role in the CANDU Owners Group KM program, in the following areas:

• Common KM Projects,

• Common Training Delivery,

• Inter-Utilities Mentoring & Technical Support: Mentoring Services, Technical Support Services.

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Thank you for your attention!

Questions?

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