Designing a Knowledge-Centric Plant Information Model by Integrating Tacit Knowledge

Abstract In knowledge-centric plant information models (K-PIMs) for nuclear power plants, the focus is not on documents or data, but on knowledge. Since knowledge is much more difficult to document and transfer than data and information, the design of a K-PIM requires a new approach and a rethinking of existing routines and processes. First, this paper identifies the technological and organizational requirements for a K-PIM. Two particular anchor points here are tacit knowledge in the context of knowledge management as well as the decommissioning phase. The effects of knowledge gaps and inadequate knowledge management become clear in the decommissioning phase at the latest and are expressed in additional work for data collection and in the question of how to deal with legacy data. For this reason, the approach chosen here is to think about the requirements for a K-PIM “from the end”, i.e. from decommissioning and the explicit and tacit knowledge required there. Although tacit knowledge plays a significant role in routine operation, it is currently only inadequately mapped in information models and is difficult to access for other people, not to mention future generations. Based on these findings, a K-PIM is proposed in which knowledge is spatially located and can therefore be experienced holistically. Three technologies play a central role in the proposed concept: building information modeling, extended reality (including virtual reality and augmented reality), and semantic technologies. Together, they create a possible basis for the successful incorporation and transfer of both explicit and implicit knowledge.