ENHANCING TRANSPORT SECURITY THROUGH KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT INITIATIVES: A Case Study of South Africa

Year
2024
Author(s)
C. CHAUVET-MALDONADO - Oak Ridge National Laboratory
A. COLON - Intern, Oak Ridge National Laboratory National Nuclear Security Administration Minority Serving Institutions Internship Program
M. FELDSTEIN - Oak Ridge National Laboratory
P. HINRICHSEN - SciRAD Consulting
K. KALDENBACH - Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Abstract
A dedicated knowledge management system is a critical component to ensuring the security of the transport of nuclear materials, specifically in mitigating disruptions to the supply chain. Knowledge management within the nuclear sector focuses on the gathering and retention of knowledge and the updating of the existing knowledge base among staff (both tacit and implicit), as well as processes, and technology. Thus, efforts related to knowledge management must focus on creating an in‑house knowledge base within a regulatory body to ensure that identified functions involving transport security are managed successfully within the organization. Consequently, this often necessitates improvements to a regulatory body’s regulations, transport security systems and policies to both identify and maintain competencies needed to preserve and transfer knowledge within a Regulatory Body. This paper will analyze these principles using South Africa as a case study, assessing the initiatives that it has undertaken to develop and advance knowledge management as a component of its transport security program.