FIFTH CANADIAN CONFERENCE ON NONDESTRUCTIVE ... - IAEA

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The graduates of these programs, along with the growing numbers of
Level III NDT technicians, will help to fill the gap. However,
engineers must also be educated in NDT technology. I recently had
the pleasure of hearing Dr. David W. Hoeppner, of the University
of Toronto speak on "Failure Analysis and NDT Interface". Dr.
Hoeppner, an educator at the university level, is appalled at the
lack of a solid component of nondestructive testing techniques in
the education of our engineers.
What will be the outcome of an even greater emphasis on nondestructive
testing education in Canada? The saving of human lives, an
increased prevention of human injury, higher productivity and the
saving of billions of dollars.
In the United States, the National Bureau of Standards and Battelle
Columbus Laboratories conducted a study to assess the costs of
material fracture to the United States for the year 1978. In their
report'-, it states
"The costs were large. In 1982 dollars the total cost was
estimated to be $119 billion per year, about 4 percent of
the gross national product. An estimated $35 billion per
year could be saved through the use of currently available
technology. Costs could be further reduced by as much as
$28 billion per year through fracture-related research...
The study concluded that substantial material, transportation,
and capital investment costs could be saved if technology
transfer, combined with research and development,
succeeded in reducing the factors of uncertainty related to
structural design. Equally safe or safer structures could
be produced with substantial cost savings in material,
transportation, and capital investment. This could be done
by reducing the uncertainty currently related to structural
design through better predictions of structural performance
from materials properties, better process and quality control
and in-service flaw monitoring, and less materials
variability."
The same solutions and cost savings, albeit with a lower dollar
figure, apply to Canadian industry and, what dollar figure do we
apply to the value of human life.
The Economic Effects of Fracture in the United States
Special Publication 647-1
U.S. Department of Commerce - National Bureau of Standards
R.P. Reed, J.H. Smith, B.W. Christ
Issued March 1983