Knowledge Transfer in Nuclear Fuel Research within the Nuclear Power Business Domain

Abstract

Since the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, the nuclear power industry has faced a challenging business environment, placing corporate management in an extremely difficult position. To survive this environment, our company has renewed its management and technology strategies. We have implemented mechanisms for the developmental cultivation of technology and organizational capabilities (strategies for knowledge transfer) into our corporate activities. Through the iterative provision of research services into new markets and domains, we have enhanced our sustainability as a technology management and ambidextrous organization. By analyzing these cases, we have demonstrated theoretical propositions, such as the fact that knowledge transfer in highly regulated, highly specialized industries like ours is realized not as the preservation of core technology, but as a dynamic process of core technology through interaction with the market.