Training needs assessment: identification of competence fields for the dismantling of nuclear power plants

The dismantling of nuclear facilities is a continuous process of change encompassing the complete site. Thereby, the focus changes from a stable and standardized operational phase to a situation characterized by constant changes in the facility as well as in the facility organization. Thus, employees and managers are confronted with a markedly changed working environment: processes and methods must be continuously re-evaluated and adapted, qualification requirements change or shift and new interfaces emerge. Furthermore, compared to the operational phase, the regulatory depth is reduced, decisions must be made faster and more flexible and the mode of operation changes from hierarchically organized routine standard operational procedures to an efficiency-orientated project-based mode of operation with limited resources at the same time. To make dismantling efficient and safe, this change should be actively managed by a change project in terms of the human technology organization approach (MTO approach, Strohm and Ulich, 1999).

Against this background, our BMBF-funded collaboration project (“Die Kompetenzen von Führungskräften und MitarbeiterInnen für den Rückbau stärken – Rückbaukompetenzen”; funding number 15S9426A) aims to identify the dismantling-related requirement changes and the associated competence shifts as well as to develop and support the changed roles of managers and employees by scientifically based training (Goldstein and Ford, 2002; IAEA, 1998). Thereby, seminar-based training (knowledge-based and demonstration-based, e.g., Sitzmann and Weinhardt, 2019) will be complemented by exercise-based and experience-based training (Cannon-Bowers and Bowers, 2010) with multimodal mixed reality applications, which allow experience-based learning with the help of virtual reality-based representations (via data glasses, tablet or PC) and can be adapted to the individual usage and learning style preferences of the trainees. The training will be developed and implemented in cooperation with our project partner GfS (Gesellschaft für Simulatorschulung mbH). After project completion, the GfS will provide the training to nuclear power plant operators and, if necessary, develop them so that a sustainable contribution to the preservation of the specialized knowledge in the nuclear energy sector is achieved.

To identify the needs for dismantling-relevant training objectives and competencies in the first step, a document analysis (safety alerts and monthly reports from our project partner PreussenElektra GmbH and over 500 reportable incidents from 28 nuclear power plants from 2012–2020), as well as 10 expert interviews, were conducted. The document analysis was used to investigate the incidents for (1) differences between operational phase and decommission, (2) differences in events between in-house and contractor personnel and to identify the incidents with the highest frequencies.

The objective of the expert interviews was the qualitative context analysis as well as the identification of dismantling-relevant competence fields. The analysis allowed us to identify nine dismantling-related competence fields for employees and managers and a further three specifically for managers. These 12 competence fields will be discussed and defined in more detail in further interviews with approximately 20 managers and 30 employees. Based on these findings, training objectives will be formulated and training content designed.

The presentation outlines the analysis described above as well as the identified fields of competence and sketches the further procedure of the collaborative project.