The cultural aspects of decommissioning

Abstract When a nuclear facility moves from operations to decommissioning, jobs and habits change for the people working in or for this facility. The overall objective moves from the production of energy or research into safely and efficiently removing structures, systems, and components. The organization undertaking the new tasks will also change. Some of the staff will leave; others will take new responsibilities. New staff will also enter the organization—some of these stay for the duration of the decommissioning project, while others stay for shorter periods or as contractors. A range of stakeholders will start playing a more active role. The required cultural change will normally not evolve without some effort. The soft issues (e.g., mindsets, traditions, or team spirit; in one word—culture), though contributing to a significant percentage of all incidents and accidents, not to mention delays, have not been much addressed by the decommissioning community itself, and it is time for these issues to be shared more systematically. Culture includes people and mindsets. In other contexts, the terminology “human factors” has been used, and this terminology may well serve the context of this chapter, namely nuclear decommissioning. The goal is to gather and disseminate information on the role of human factors in decommissioning, their impacts on a wide range of activities, and anticipated challenges. This book is not intended to provide specific guidance on “what-to-do-if,” nor will it describe human factors in detail; it is also not a sociological study. The purpose is to offer a noncomprehensive overview of frequent issues and to categorize these into themes. The expected outcome would enable decommissioning projects to adopt a proactive approach, and thus improve safety, predictability, efficiency, performance, and organizational learning.