Frequently Asked Questions

What is DNFSB Recommendation 2004-1?

What is 2004-1?

The overarching objective of Recommendation 2004-1, Oversight of Complex, High-Hazard Nuclear Operations, is to ensure that DOE and the National Nuclear Security Administration organizational changes will not increase the likelihood of a low-probability, high-consequence nuclear accident. Those changes include:

1. Increasing the use of performance-based contracts, which could result in contractors putting production goals ahead of safety.
2. Streamlining requirements, which could reduce the effectiveness of necessary safety standards.
3. Decentralizing oversight, which could compromise DOE's central role of in self-regulation of nuclear safety, delaying actions to correct complex-wide safety issues, and depleting technical capabilities.

The cornerstones of the Recommendation are: (1) re-establishment of central, headquarters awareness and control of major nuclear safety issues; and (2) formation of a sustainable capability that will maintain and advance the scientific and engineering understanding of nuclear safety.

How does this differ from Integrated Safety Management?

Coming soon

Is 2004-1 for DOE or for the contractors?

Coming soon

What is a Knowledge Portal?

A Knowledge Portal is one of the technology tools employed in the discipline of Knowledge Management to facilitate the sharing of an organization's explicit, as well as tacit, knowledge on a given subject. A Knowledge Portals differs from common web sites in that it:

1. provide users with a collaborative work space where users can work on common documents, and
2. allow users to share ideas and strategies in real time on-line in discussion forums.

While the usefulness of working collaboratively on-line is intuitively obvious, the real value of a Portals is its ability to capture thoughts and ideas normally shared in meetings and conference calls. Unlike a conference call or meeting however, discussion forums allow, not just meeting participants, but users as well, to draw upon knowledge and information within the forums discussions for days, weeks, and even years later, and in their original context.

What is Knowledge Management?

Knowledge Management is an explicit, systematic approach for creating, accessing, validating and applying knowledge needed to accomplish goals and objectives. It is about leveraging intellectual capital to improve effectiveness, efficiency and innovation.  Because of this, the President’s Management Agenda recognizes Knowledge Management at an effective tool for accomplishing it's Human Capital Agenda Item

Knowledge Management is fundamentally about viewing knowledge as a principle resource of an organization and focusing on answering three core questions:

• what knowledge do we need to accomplish our goals and objectives?
• how do we create, locate or obtain the needed knowledge?
• how do we communicate and apply the needed knowledge?

Why do I have to enter a password for files and then again for the discussion forum?

By design, the Knowledge Portal is set-up as an overall information resource for 2004-1, while accommodating the needs of specific 2004-1 teams and working groups in its ability to allow and protect work in progress, informal discussions, information exchange, and other internal communications needs. It is for this reason that portions of the Portal are password protected and require the approval of registrants for these areas.

Approved registrants can access and participate in discussion forums, provide comments to draft documents and correspondence, review others comments, and solicit attention to postings. Via a built-in e-mail notification system, the user can notify and/or be notified of postings requiring their attention. Other password protected areas, such as access to informational files, are set-up as separate registrations to be utilized by identified/approved users as well

Why do I sometimes get two different search results for the same search query?

The Portal is developed with two search engines to accommodate both public and password protected searches. One search engine is set up for public use, while the second, allows password users access to search engines in both password protected and public files.

The search boxes at the top of non-password protected files connect to the public search engine, while the search boxes at the tip of password protected files connect to the second, or password protected search engine.