RD&D-Programme 2004 - SKB

Between now and 2008, an organization must be planned and established for the upcoming
construction phase, and to some extent for the following operating phase as well. Important
questions in this planning work are how management and leadership of the big construction
projects are to be organized, and how contract procurement is to be managed. Furthermore, SKB
must organize its own safety review and inspection functions under forms that ensure a strong
and independent status in relation to the rest of the organization.
Where the future facilities are sited will greatly affect the organization. With the start of the
construction phase, the venue of SKB’s activities will be shifted more and more towards
the community or communities where the encapsulation plant and the deep repository are
established. What this will entail organizationally depends, among other things, on recruitment
prospects in the communities and the regions, and on SKB’s requirements on continuity and
competence. Good advance planning based on realistic assumptions is required in order for
the organizational transformation process needed for construction of the facilities to be implemented
successfully. From SKB’s perspective it is therefore essential that the implementation
programme be robust and enjoy broad support in order to minimize the risks of major deviations
from the overall planning.
The LILW programme also includes future facility construction, with associated organizational
and resource needs. But the scope is smaller, and the time perspective longer, than for the
nuclear fuel programme’s facilities. Coordination of planning between the nuclear fuel and
LILW programmes should enable variations in resource needs to be equalized over time. Given
the goal that the disposal chambers for decommissioning waste etc should be available by 2020
at the earliest, early planning and design should be started at roughly the same pace as resources
for this can be freed from the deep repository project, which will then be in transition from
planning to building. Similarly, the extension for decommissioning waste can be started at the
same time as the deep repository nears the operating phase. Siting and establishment of the
final repository for other long-lived waste come later, at a stage when the other facilities are in
operation.
A6.2 Meeting future competence needs
Current situation
SKB’s competence profile today reflects both the nuclear waste programme’s more than 30-year
history and changes in recent years. Continuous activities over many years and a tradition of
low staff turnover have led to a considerable accumulation of knowledge and expertise covering
all parts of SKB’s operations. There are many people in the company, especially in the technical
fields, with industry experience stretching back all the way to the early days of the programme.
This assembled knowledge capital is of great value and can only be maintained via an organization
that ensures active experience feedback.
During the past 3–4 years, SKB’s personnel needs have increased considerably. The initiation
of the site investigations required a rapid build-up of local site units and to some extent central
staff units as well. The systems for quality and environmental management have also required
additional resources. There have been staff increases at the laboratories as well, as more fullscale
testing has required more and more resources.
These needs have been met by a combination of staff recruitment and contracting of consultants
with specialist expertise. The expansion is now more or less complete. The resultant rejuvenation
of the organization opens up new possibilities for managing the existing knowledge capital
via experience feedback.
Future needs
Compared with other industrial enterprises, SKB is able to predict its future competence
needs with good accuracy and can thereby plan ways to meet these needs well in advance.
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