Safeguards Knowledge Management and Retention at the U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratory Complex

The loss of international nuclear safeguards knowledge due to the attrition and impending retirement of many experts has made knowledge retention a priority for the U.S. national laboratory complex. Knowledge retention refers mainly to the preservation and transfer of both explicit (e.g., written, documented, fact-based information) and tacit (experiential) knowledge. In an effort to address this challenge, in 2017 the U.S. Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration sponsored four U.S. national laboratories to develop a safeguards knowledge retention strategy. The effort combined workforce analysis tools with a survey and workshop intended to identify critical safeguards knowledge, skill sets, types of safeguards information to retain, best practices, and lessons learned.The 1-year study applied a multifaceted approach: (1) critical safeguards information at risk of loss was identified using a methodology developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory; (2) a survey and workshop were conducted to assess nine U.S. national laboratories’ efforts to determine current safeguards knowledge retention practices and challenges and identify best practices; and (3) a workforce planning and agility tool developed by Los Alamos National Laboratory was used to identify and predict critical safeguards knowledge gaps and how best to recruit to fill those gaps.Based on findings of these tasks and research on other organizational approaches to address similar issues, a strategy was developed on potential knowledge retention methods, customized human resource policies, and best practices that could be implemented across the national laboratories.