CONTENTS
News.............................................. 1-2
17th WCNDT......................................3
Africa Regional Group........................4
Asia-Pacific Regional Group...............5
European Regional Group.............. 6-8
Pan-American Regional Group..... 9-11
Calendar of Events............................12

The World Organisation for NDTVolume 7 Issue No 10
CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGE

O

Time to let go

ne standard, one test – accepted everywhere … this was
the World Standards Day Message delivered jointly by the
Presidents of the three leading organisations that develop
and disseminate standards and recommendations for the global
market, Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the International
Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and the International
Telecommunications Union (ITU), seven years ago. The message
stated:“Standards and tests go hand in hand and are key to thedevelopment of the global market. Standards give specifications or requirements for
products, services, systems, processes and materials. Tests then verify that these standards
can be met reliably over time. Once these standards are accepted broadly at an international
level, they can further foster the development of a global market for the goods or services –a market built on consistent quality and consumer confidence.
“Standards are a technical language that businesses the world over use to create goods,
services and systems. Since businesses everywhere understand it, the goods and services
they produce based on this language should have the same quality wherever they are made.
Standards may come about to achieve a variety of objectives such as ensuring safety andperformance, but their basic and essential nature is that by establishing certain parameters,
they provide a common technological foundation for producing goods, services and systems
anywhere.”
As Chairman of ICNDT I have taken this message to heart, especially the statement“Once these standards are accepted broadly at an international level, they can further foster
the development of a global market for the goods or services – a market built on consistentquality and consumer confidence.” The continuous question I ask myself, as well as many of
my colleagues, is “Why haven’t we in the NDT industry been able to obtain one acceptableinternational standard to reflect on the Presidents’ message above?”. “What do we need to
do to make this happen in our industry?”
Although I cannot answer this question completely, my international travel as the ICNDT
representative has provided me with many opportunities to observe, discuss and reflect on
the reason that we do not have one harmonised NDT Certification Standard. If I were tosummarise and provide a one word answer it would be “stakeholders”. Stakeholders aredefined as “a person or group with a direct interest, involvement, or investment in something,for example the employees, stockholders, and customers of a business concern”.
The stakeholders I am referring to are those who have had a tremendous involvement
in designing a standard that to all intents and purposes meets all the requirements fortheir specific needs, therefore becoming overly protective and inflexible and rightfully soconsidering their investment. However, this ownership and possessiveness have stalled
the message provided by our international Presidents. As members of the International
Committee for Non-Destructive Testing, we must rise above safeguarding national andregional standards and promote “One Standard, One Test – Accepted Everywhere”.
The vital requirements in the numerous standards available for qualification andcertification of non-destructive testing personnel are similar. It is time for the stakeholders to
let go of the trivial differences and work together to accomplish our needs for one universal
standard.
Douglas J Marshall

June 2008

Shanghai World
Conference
postponed until OctoberT

he 17th World Conference on NonDestructive Testing (17th WCNDT),
previously
scheduledtotakeplace 27-30 August 2008 in Shanghai,
China, has been forced to re-schedule to25-28 October, due to catastrophic events
surrounding the recent earthquake in
Sichuan Province.
Dr Rong S Geng, President of the
17th WCNDT, has issued an urgent message
to conference delegates, exhibitors and allinterested parties, expressing his sincere
apologies and further details of the decision.
The full text of Dr Geng’s announcement
appears on Page 3 of this issue.
Following the earthquake in Sichuan,
which has caused severe disruption
to transport, telecommunication andinfrastructure in not just the area aroundthe epicentre but much wider afield,
the Chinese government directed that
all international conferences and major
events within a certain time period of the
Olympic Games should be re-scheduled toother suitable dates. The mandate would
have made the process of acquiring visas
within that time frame extremely difficult.
Hence, the organising committee had noalternative but to put back the 17th WCNDT
until October.
The revised schedule for ICNDT
meetings is as follows:
Thursday, 23 October, ICNDT Executive
Committee and PGP Committee
meetings, 8.00 am – 5.00 pm
Friday, 24 October, ICNDT General
Assembly, 8.00 am – 5.00 pm
Monday, 27 October, ICNDT General
Assembly, 9.00 am – 5.00 pm
Tuesday, 28 October, Closing of
Conference, 3.00 pm
Tuesday, 28 October, Closing of
Exhibition, 4.00 pm
Turn to page 3 for Dr Geng’s message andfurther details.

The Official Journal of the International Committee for Non-Destructive TestingICNDT Journal
Publisher: 				

The International Committee for Non-Destructive Testing (ICNDT)Secretariat: The Canadian Institute for NDE (CINDE), 135 Fennell Avenue,
Hamilton, Ontario L8N 3T2, Canada. Tel: +1 (905) 387-1655; Fax: +1 (905)574-6080; E-mail: s.bond@cinde.ca

Editor:		

Giuseppe Nardoni, Italian Society for Non-Destructive Testing andMonitoring Diagnostics (AIPnD), via A Foresti, 5, 25127 Brescia, Italy. Tel:
+39 030 373 9173; Fax: +39 030 373 9176; E-mail: aipnd@numerica.it

Production Editors: David Gilbert, The British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing (BINDT).
Tel: +44 1604 630124; Fax: +44 1604 231489 E-mail: david.gilbert@
bindt.org
				Sergio Ghia, AIPnD
E-mail: ghia@icndt.org

Production:		

Pauline Thomas, BINDT.

Your new ICNDTJournal is available
for downloading fromwww.icndt.org

Published three times per year.
Editorial contributions are welcomed.
Articles should be sent to the Publisher at the above address.

Views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the International Committee for
Non-Destructive Testing.
No liability is accepted whatsoever for errors or omissions.
ICNDT Member Societies are authorised to distribute this newsletter and/or its contents, however
permission should be obtained for reproduction of individual articles and extracts.

Future ICNDTCommittee Meetings
17th WCNDTShanghai, China
Executive Committee,
PGP Committee,
ICNDT General Assembly
October 2008
10th ECNDTMoscow, Russia
Executive Committee,
PGP Committee,
ICNDT General Assembly,
June 2010

The next ICNDT Journal will be published in September 2008
Material should be sent to the Publisher at the above address by 31 July 2008

Gérard Hennaut graduated in 1975
as a Mechanical Engineer, andwas subsequently recognised asa European Welding Engineer. He began
his career by working with RTD Rotterdam
in the field of radiographic testing, before
joining Vinçotte near Brussels in 1976.
This turned out to be the real start ofa long story of passion and discovery
about non-destructive testing. The firsteight years of his career were devoted tomultiple applications of UT, RT, MT and
PT in inspections of boilers and pressure
vessels in power stations, oil plants andother industrial installations. As a projectengineer for in-service inspections of
nuclear power plant components, hecontributed valuably during those years
in the development of the UT of austenitic
steel welds with transducers specificallydesigned by Vinçotte.
In the eighties, Gérard was appointed
as the head of the NDT department,
and coordinated the NDT activity of thewhole Vinçotte group. He acted also as
a consultant for industry, interpreting
regulations – his knowledge of the ASME
Code was impressive – establishinginspection programmes, writing procedures
and specifications.

2

Gérard Hennaut
1950 – 2008
In 1992,
hewent
through theASNT Level III
examinations
for UT, RT,
MT and PT in
the USA, andled then the
Vinçotte team
that
went
successfullyt h r o u g h Gérard Hennaut
the US PDI(Performance Demonstration Initiative)
exercise for primary piping weld
examination. In 1996, he joined theBelgian Authorized Inspection Agency tomonitor in-service inspection and repair/
replacement activities in the domestic
nuclear power plants; he was particularly
involved in qualification processes,
procedure validation and site intervention
follow-up. In 1998, he passed BANT
(Belgian Association for Nondestructive
Testing) Level III examinations in UT, RT,
MT and PT.
He was a key member of BANT, as anadministrator and, for several years, as thechairman of the Certification Committee.

He was also an active member of the
IBN (Belgian Institute for Normalization)in various working groups dealing withwelding, NDT and NDT certification. At
the IIW (International Institute of Welding),
he was chairman of the working groupon “Austenitics” and was very actively
involved in the drafting of both issues of the“Handbook on the ultrasonic examinationof austenitic and dissimilar welds”.
He was a Belgian representative to the
EFNDT (European Federation for NonDestructive Testing) and became a very
active member of its Board and Treasurer
in 2005.
Early this year, a merciless illness carriedhim off in few weeks. We will forever keep
Gérard in our memory as a warm-hearted
person and a highly-skilled colleague. And
we will miss a friend.
Dominique Moussebois
Mike Farley, President of EFNDT, adds: “Weenjoyed working with Gérard on the EFNDTBoard and the Certification Executive
Committee. He was very professionaland good-humoured. He represented theinterests of the smaller countries in Europe
very effectively and will be sorely missed”.

ICNDT Journal Vol 7 No 10 June 2008

17TH WCNDTUrgent message from the secretariat of the 17th WCNDTand from ChSNDTTo all delegates and exhibitors of the 17th WCNDT, and to whom it may concern
Dear Sir/MadamWith the consent of ICNDT, we are very sorry to announce that the 17th WCNDT, which was
originally scheduled for 27 – 30 August 2008, has been postponed until 25 – 28 October
2008, (24 October for registration).
Although the organising committee of the 17th WCNDT and ChSNDT have spared no effort
over the past few years in preparing the 17th WCNDT and have got to the point where they
were almost ready for the opening of the conference, unfortunately they have been informed
and instructed, by the concerned authority of the Chinese government that, due to theunexpected disastrous earthquake which occurred in Si Chuan province, which has caused
and shall cause huge problems in transportation, communications and hotel reservations in
China for some time to come, the 17th WCNDT must be postponed to some other date due toits being conjunct too closely to the 29th Olympic Games taking place in Beijing in August. In
fact, it has been stipulated that any international conference and large-scale activities in China Shanghai International Convention Center
shall be possibly stopped during that period and be shifted to other suitable dates, according
to the authority. Although the 17th WCNDT secretariat has made every effort to deal with thesituation, there is no alternative but to comply with the mandate. As our participants may facehigh risk in not getting required visas if the conference is to be held 27 to 30 August becauseof strict visa control, there is no alternative but to reschedule the 17th WCNDT.
We fully understand that the change of the conference schedule will definitely cause greatinconvenience for all attendees and exhibitors, and for all people who have already arranged
their itinerary for attending the 17th WCNDT. We sincerely apologise for that.
In order to reduce possible losses to the minimum extent, the secretariat of the 17th WCNDT
has made the following decisions:q any previously submitted and accepted papers shall remain in effect, as long as the authors
Shanghai Grand Theatre
or author wish(es) to; new papers for the conference are also welcome provided submitted
before 30 June 2008;
q people who have paid the registration fees need not register again and will be informed by the secretariat in due time before theconference; those who wish to cancel the registration please contact the secretariat to claim back their registration fees in full;q the exhibition location, booth number and size shall be kept unchanged as originally assigned; any exhibitor who wishes to withdraw
shall get his/her refund back in full provided the exhibitor informs the secretariat of the 17th WCNDT not later than 30 June 2008;
q all the information already submitted by any delegate for invitation letter shall be kept well by the secretariat, but the duration datein China shall be informed. A new invitation letter shall be sent to delegates in less than two months time or no later than 31 July
2008. The information for this is: 1. A copy of your passport; 2. Full name of the delegate; 3. Sex; 4. Date of birth; 5. Passport number;
6. Country; 7. Visiting date from – to; 8. Position in your company; 9. Your company name and address; 10. Fax and telephone numbers;
11. E-mail;q anyone who has already made an hotel reservation for the 17th WCNDT should contact Mr Zhou Xiao Ping of 17th WCNDT secretariat,
e-mail zhouxp@shanghaitycoon.com, or zhouxp@cmes.org, and he will help you to contact the relevant hotel and to make cancellation
or re-reservation if so desired.
The schedule for the exhibition is as follows:
Set-up:24 Oct, 8.00 pm – 25 Oct 2008
Opening hours: 26 Oct 2008 – 09.00-16.30
27 Oct 2008 – 09.00-16.30
28 Oct 2008 – 09.00-16.30
Dismantling:
28 Oct 2008 ­– 16.30
Once again, we sincerely apologise for our decision of rescheduling the 17th WCNDT.
Your support and understanding is highly appreciated.
Sincerely yours
Dr Rong S Geng, President of 17th WCNDTOn behalf of the organisation committee of the 17th WCNDT and ChSNDTShanghai Exhibition Center

Registration for participants is now open. All fees are in US $ and the registration fee includes access to the entire conference programme,
access to the exhibition, coffee, welcome dinner, abstracts booklet and proceedings CD-ROM and travel on the Huangpu River. The
accompanying person fee includes participation in the opening ceremony, welcome dinner and travel on the Huangpu River.
Participant

US $750		

ICNDT Journal Vol 7 No 10 June 2008

Student

US $380

Accompanying person

US $1803

Regional Report

Contact:
M Shafy – shafy@maktoob.com
F Herelli – herelli.f@scncff.com.tn

AFRICA

Sudanese Society for NDT (SSNDT)S

ince the dawn of this century the number of NDT
professionals in Sudan has not been more than a handful andthe institutions taking care of it were Sudan Atomic Energy
Commission, Sudan Airways and a few academic centres.
With the rapid development of the oil sector in Sudan, engineers
sensed the importance of the technology and many of them took
advantage of the opportunity it provides. This situation led to anincrease in the number of professionals, and this necessitatedthe organisation of them in a national society. This initiativecame from the NDT unit, SAEC, AFRA country coordinator. The
general constitution meeting was held in April 2006 under thekind support of SAEC DG. The society was registered as a National
Nongovernmental Organisation.
Since constitution, the SSNDT has played a big role in the
spread of NDT culture through various means, such as seminars,
newsletters and so on.
One of the considerable achievements of the society was
the formation in March 2007 of the National Committee forStandardisation and Certification of NDT Personnel.

List of SSNDT activities:
q Public seminar entitled ‘NDT concept – applications –international standards’, Sudan University of Science andTechnology – May 2006
q First Safety Week, Sudan Atomic Energy Commission – August
2006
q Public seminar ‘NDT Society in Malaysia’, ‘Failure analysis’ –Engineer’s home – August 2006
q ICNDT membership – September 2006
q Member’s Nile tour – February 2007

q Public seminarq SSNDT Today newsletter – October 2006
q Representation on the Sudan Technical Committee for NDT
Personnel Qualification and Certification with two SSNDT
membersq Industrial radiography training course – October 2007
q Participation in ‘Engineering exhibition’, Sudan University of
Science and Technology – December 2007
q Scientific lecture ‘Infrared thermography’, February 2008
q Participation on 5th ACNDTq Participation in major industrial community activities
Reference: Eng Hamid Suliman Hamid “Inspection practiceand application of NDT methods in Sudan petroleum industry”,
5th ACNDT, Tunisia-Hammamet, March 2008.

18th World Conference for Non-Destructive Testing
18 – 20 April 2012
DURBAN – REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA

Contact: SAINT, PO Box 76068, Lynnwood Ridge, 0041, South Africa.
Tel: +27 11 719 5717 / +27 12 807 3829 (messages); Fax: +27 12 807 3829;
Email: saint@acenet.co.za; Web: http://www.saint.org.za

4

ICNDT Journal Vol 7 No 10 June 2008

Regional Report

Contact:
L Dick – ljdick@ndt.co.nz
O-Y Kwon – okwon@inha.ac.kr

ASIA-PACIFIC

T

Qualification and Certification of NDT personnel in Japan

his article briefly introduces qualification and certification
of NDT personnel in Japan. Figure 1 summarises the historyof its scheme.

Figure 1. History of the qualification and certification scheme of
JSNDI

The Japanese Society for Non-Destructive Inspection (JSNDI)
started qualification and certification of NDT personnel in 1969
as a third party certification according to NDIS 0601 establishedin 1968. At that time, six NDT methods, namely RT, UT, MT, PT,
ET and SM (Strain Measurement) were already prescribed. Afterseveral revisions, a major revision of NDIS 0601 was made in1988. One of the major concerns in this revision was international
harmonisation from the viewpoint of classification in each NDT
method. The certification scheme according to NDIS 0601-88 hadbeen executed since 1989. The present version of NDIS 0601 waspublished in 2000.
On the other hand, ISO 9712 was established in 1992. JSNDI
considered international harmonisation again and translated
ISO/DIS 9712:1997 to establish NDIS J001 in 1998 on the basisof the first revision (ISO/DIS) proposed in 1997. For the purposeof promoting international harmonisation further, JSNDI made adraft of voluntary national standard by uniting NDIS 0601 and
NDIS J001. NDIS J001 was executed until the autumn of 2002
since JIS Z 2305 ‘Non-destructive testing – qualification andcertification of Personnel’ was established in 2001. JIS Z 2305:2001
is a modified (MOD) version of ISO 9712:1999.
The certification scheme according to JIS Z 2305:2001
started in the spring of 2003. Two previous certification schemes
according to NDIS 0601 and NDIS J001 were terminated at thesame time. The certification according to NDIS J001 is considered
to be equivalent to that according to JIS Z 2305:2001, while anadditional examination is required for transition from NDIS 0601
certification to JIS Z 2305:2001 certification. Since the term ofvalidity of certification according to NDIS 0601 is six years, thetransition examination will be terminated in the spring of 2010.

The Certification Division of JSNDI operates a Certification
Body, a Qualification Body and Examination Centres for JIS Z 2305
in Japan. The certification according to JIS Z 2305 is now adopted
most widely in Japan in the related government ministries, local
governments, technical societies and associations, and various
industries.
The present status of the examinations and certification of JIS Z
2305 are as follows:
q Levels: Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3
q NDT methods: RT, UT, MT, PT, ET and SM (Strain
Measurement)
q Number of applicants for initial, recertification and transition
examinations per year: 29,306 for 2007 (see Figure 3)
q Number of valid certificates: 68,468 at the end of 2007 (seeFigure 4)
q Frequency of examination: twice a year
q Sites for written examinations: about 12 (see Figure 2)
q Site for practical examinations: about 6

Figure 3. Number of applicants by NDT method and level for 2007

Figure 4. Number and valid certificates by year (NDIS 0601 and
JIS Z 2305)

NOTE

Figure 2. Sites for written examinations

q NDIS: Standard of the Japanese Society for Non-Destructive
Inspection
q JIS: Japanese Industrial Standard
q NDIS 0601: ‘Rule for Qualification and Certification of NonDestructive Testing Personnel’ The original version of NDIS
0601 started in 1968.
q NDIS J001 (ISO/DIS 9712:1997, IDT): ‘Non-Destructive
testing – Qualification and Certification of Personnel’

13th Asia-Pacific Conference on Non-Destructive Testing
8-13 November 2009 – Yokohama, Japan

E-mail: apcndt2009@jsndi.or.jp; website: http://www.apcndt2009.com

ICNDT Journal Vol 7 No 10 June 20085

Regional Report

Contact:
E Romero – informacion@aend.org
V Krstelj – vjera.krstelj@fsb.hr

EUROPE

Development of an NDT Personnel Certification Systemin the Republic of Belarus
S A Popoudina – Executive Director of the Belarusian Association on Nondestructive Testing
and Technical Diagnostics (BANDT)

B

eginning with an initiative by the Belarusian Association on
Nondestructive Testing and Technical Diagnostics (BANDT)in 1992, a new trend of activities in the field of non-destructive
testing started to develop, namely NDT personnel certification.
As part of the process, European standard EN 473:1992 wasadopted as a governmental standard, training centres for different
NDT methods were established, and a Certification body of NDT
personnel ‘Profcertico’ was created under BANDT guidance andaccredited by German Accreditation body TGA and by the State
Committee for Standardization, Metrology and Certification of the
Republic of Belarus.
The EFNDT multilateral agreement on the recognition of NDT
personnel certification systems/schemes (MRA), with its objective
to promote harmonisation of independent certification systems of
NDT personnel, contributed to the formation and development of
NDT personnel in Belarus.
BANDT joined MRA in 1997 and this Agreement, signed by 27
national NDT societies of European countries, became the basis
for recognition in Europe of certificates issued by the Certificationbody ‘Profcertico’. In December 2007 in Belarus about 5000
NDT specialists were certified in different sectors – energy,
petrochemistry, transport, mechanical engineering, building
industry.
Integration of the Republic of Belarus to the world economy
called for modification of the legislative base in the field oftechnical regulation and standardisation, conformity assessmenton the principles of the European Union practice and first of all on
the basis of Directives of the New and the Global Approach.
The Law ‘On conformity assessment with the requirements oftechnical normative legal acts in the sphere of technical regulationand standardisation’ was adopted in Belarus on 5 January 2004. Incompliance with this law, professional competence of specialists,
including NDT personnel, is the object of the conformity
assessment and certification of personnel is the form of theconformity assessment.
Normative basis for NDT personnel certification is composedof two fundamental technical normative legal acts:q Technical code of good practice TCP 5.1.06-2004 ‘National
conformity approval system of the Republic of Belarus.
Procedural order of certification of personnel competence.
Basic concepts’ was adopted on January 1, 2005;
q Governmental standard STB EN 473:2005 ‘Non-destructive
testing. Qualification and certification of NDT personnel.
General principles’ was adopted on 1 August 2005 and thestandard GOST 30489-97 ‘General criteria for certification
bodies operating certification of personnel’ was repealed.

carry out work on quality control of potentially hazardous objects
to the compliance of EC Directives and establishment of necessary
infrastructures to support implementation of these requirements.
Directive 97/23/EC, Article 13 of Annex 4 specifies certification
of NDT personnel only in a notified body of the European Union,
but Article 12 entitles the notified body to involve for the training
and assessment of NDT personnel knowledge a third party thatmeets the requirements of international standard EN ISO/IEC
17024:2003 ‘Conformity assessment: General requirements forbodies operating certification of persons’. Taking into account thispoint, the Certification body of NDT personnel ‘Profcertico’ took
advantage of the opportunity to become an examination centre ofa notified body of the European Union.
A notified body of the European Union – Scientific ResearchInstitute of Welding (Bratislava, Slovakia) – carried out an audit of
the Certification body ‘Profcertico’ and stated that it is “ready andcapable to carry out NDT personnel certification in compliancewith the requirements of the Directive 97/23/EC paragraph 3.1.3”
as follows:
q Certification body meets minimum criteria that have to be
fulfilled when authorised bodies mentioned in Article 12
and recognised third organisations referred to in Article 13(Annex to Directive 97/23/EC) are assigned and meets therequirements of ISO/IEC 17024;
q Catalogues of examination questions for all NDT methods
include additional questions on European standards provided
in Directive 97/23/EC;
q Examination specimens of Certification body meet theprovisions of EN 473:2000 Annex B;
q Examiners of Certification body had additional training on theknowledge of EC Directives.

TCP 5.1.06-2004 specifies general requirements to the orderof certification of the personnel professional competence, defines
procedures of application for certification and decision-making on
the application, of certification examinations execution, order ofprolongation, issuing, suspension and cancellation of certificates.
Today, draft technical Regulation ‘Safety of pressure equipment’harmonised with the European Directive is a work-in-progress.
The Directive specifies requirements both to the NDT methods
and to the qualification of NDT personnel. Qualification of
NDT personnel who carry out pressure vessels testing has to be
confirmed by an independent third party.
In view of this Regulation adoption and the intention of Belarus
enterprises to have access to external markets, tasks arise fortraining and confirmation of the competence of specialists who

At present, international standard EN 45013, which was inforce as governmental standard GOST 30488-97, is repealed and
EN ISO/IEC 17024:2003 is valid and covers the requirements to thebodies which realise certification of personnel, to the development
and application of certification schemes.
A rules committee on certification schemes for NDT personnel
certification was established within BANDT to implement thesetasks. As the certification scheme includes specified requirements
for certification related to specific categories of individuals, theirbusiness activities shall be covered by the same standards andrules and the same procedures. The main functions of the Rules
committee are:q development of certification schemes for different NDT
methods in specific sectors;

6

Development and adoption in Belarus of technical regulationand governmental standard STB EN 473-2005 have identified
problems associated with:q widening of certification schemes for different NDT methods
provided by the technical Regulation;
q establishing procedures for training centres recognition by the
Certification body of NDT personnel and inspection control of
their activities;
q promotion in adoption of European standards in NDT
included in technical Regulation;q organisation of additional training for NDT personnel on
European standards;
q adoption of international standard EN ISO/IEC 17024:2003 asa governmental standard in the Republic of Belarus.

ICNDT Journal Vol 7 No 10 June 2008

EUROPEq organisation and implementation of works for review andvalidation of certification schemes.
This Committee was established on a voluntary basis and iscomposed of Level III specialists in different NDT methods.
One of the mandatory requirements for NDT personnel
certification in compliance with EN 473:2000 and Directive 97/23/
EC is the availability of training that covers study and application ofEuropean norms in NDT that are included in examination questionsof Certification body ‘Profcertico’. Training of NDT personnel forknowledge of European norms is until now conducted by training
centres involved by Certification body ‘Profcertico’ on approved
programmes. Training on VT and UT are already carried out incompliance with such programmes.
Today, 16 European norms are introduced in the Republic of
Belarus as governmental standards and this work is progressing.
Thus, conditions for the conformity assessment of NDT personnel
in compliance with Directive 97/23/EC are created in the Republicof Belarus and, after adoption of the technical Regulation ‘Safety ofpressure equipment’, conformity assessment will be realised also
in compliance with this.
It would be expedient to pursue within the framework ofintergovernmental programme of works in the field of NDT
preparation and adoption of international standards EN ISO/IEC
17024:2003 and EN 473:2000 as intergovernmental standards
and to review and harmonise rules on intergovernmental
standardisation PMG 21-97 ‘Non-destructive testing: sectors forthe purpose of NDT personnel certification’ in compliance with
Annex A EN 473:2000, where within one sector unique classes of
products are anticipated.
Adoption of these technical normative legal acts asintergovernmental standards would become the basis forcertification bodies and certification schemes recognition at aninternational level.

T

TURK NDT – the Turkish Society
for Non-Destructive TestingT

URK NDT – the Turkish Society for Non-Destructive Testing– formed in April 2007, has become a full member of theEuropean Federation of NDT.
A membership certificate was presented to President Mustafa
Yilmaz by EFNDT President, Mike Farley, during a break from the2007 International NDT Conference in Istanbul organised by the
Chamber of Metallurgical Engineers.
Mike Farley, addressing the conference, congratulated theofficers of the new Society and urged everyone present to give
their support and aim to achieve an influential position in EFNDTand ICNDT through their actions.

From right to left: Dr C Hakan Gur, TURK NDT, Vice-President(International Affairs), Mr Mustafa Yilmaz, TURK NDT, President,
Dr Mike Farley, EFNDT, President and two other representatives of
TURK NDT

Czech Republic’s 38th International Conference and Exhibition

he 38th International Conference and ‘DEFEKTOSKOPIE’
Exhibition will be held from 4-6 November 2008 in Brno,
Czech Republic.
Organised by the Czech Society for NDT, the conference isaimed at all topics of non-destructive testing and evaluation ofmaterials and structures in all areas of technical activities.
It is an opportunity for all people interested in the research anddevelopment as well as in practice, standardisation and application
of NDT/NDE methods to meet together. All interested persons areinvited to participate at the conference, and to contribute by papers
in both oral and poster sections. Manufacturers and suppliers of
NDT instruments, software, literature, and service providers areinvited to present their products and innovations in the wide user
connection.
Conference topics:
q Acoustic emission
q Magnetic and inductive methods
q Radiography
q Surface and optical methods

q Tomography
q Ultrasonic methods
q Leak detection
q NDT corrosion damage monitoring
q NDT in material and structure testingq Industrial standards and innovations
q Functional and operational testing, reliability and safetyassuranceq Education, standardisation, certification and accreditationq Other NDT applications
Papers should be submitted by 31 July 2008. The official
languages of the Conference will be English, Czech and Slovak.
The event will take place at the Hotel Santon, located inbeautiful countryside adjacent to the Brno Dam, only 20 minutes
from the centre of Brno, the second largest city in the Czech
Republic.
For further information, contact Assoc Prof Pavel Mazal, ČNDT,VUT FSI, Technická 2, 616 69 Brno, Czech Republic. E-mail:
cndt@cndt.cz; website: www.cndt.cz

NDT 2008
Conference and Exhibition
16-18 September 2008 – Shrigley Hall Hotel, Cheshire, UK
The 47th Annual British Conference on Non-Destructive Testing will take place in autumn 2008
in the striking 19th century mansion, Shrigley Hall Hotel, Cheshire, UK
Exhibition reservations and requests for further information should be sent to:
Karen Cambridge, The British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing, 1 Spencer Parade, Northampton NN1 5AA, UK.
Tel: +44 (0)1604 630124; Fax: +44 (0)1604 231489; E-mail: karen.cambridge@bindt.org

ICNDT Journal Vol 7 No 10 June 2008

7

EUROPE

Portuguese accreditation body gains Associate Membership of EFNDTR

ELACRE, the association of accreditation laboratories
in Portugal and accredited certification body for NDT
personnel, has been accepted as an Associate Member ofthe European Federation for NDT (EFNDT).
The President of RELACRE, Jose Duarte, was presented withan Associate Membership Certificate by Mike Farley, Presidentof EFNDT during a one-day workshop entitled ‘Non-destructive
testing – innovation and quality’ in Lisbon on 3 April 2008.
Approximately 75 representatives of the NDT community inPortugal – industry, research, services, training and certification– were present.
The objectives of the workshop:
q to inform the debate on training and certification of NDTtechnicians in Portugal and to introduce RELACRE to EFNDT
andq to present new techniques and perspectives on developments
in industry
were fulfilled by a programme of nine papers:
q Mike Farley presented the work of EFNDT and showed how
Portugal could gain access to the services the Federation
provides to its members. He indicated how RELACRE could
develop an NDT Society and gain full membership of EFNDT.
q Pedro Barros demonstrated the impressive array of modern
NDT technologies being developed and in use in ISQ,
including digital radiography, phased arrays, and long range
UT.
q Telmo Santos (DEM/IST) described his work on eddy current
inspection for stir friction welds in aluminium.
q There was an impressive overview of a wide range of modern
NDT technologies for power plant service offered by Alstom
Power, presented by Fernando Silverio. It demonstrated how
modern technologies have been taken to the application stage
in a global company which has continued to invest in R&D,
for example by membership of the UK Research Centre for
NDE (RCNDE).
q Jaime Santos and Mario Santos (DEEC/FCTUC) gave an
introduction to ultrasonic techniques and information on
selected applications.
q Mario Vaz (Laboratory of Optical and Mechanical Experiments
INEGI in the University of Porto) described new techniques

8

President of EFNDT, Mike Farley (left) congratulates Jose Duarte,
President of RELACRE, Portugal, on becoming an Associate Memberof EFNDT

for optical inspection of composite materials and polymers,
particularly for aerospace components.
q RELACRE has set up training courses at Levels 1, 2 and 3 inmethods, described in the workshop by Ana Maria Duarte andLuis Negras.
q Claudia Almeida described how RELACRE provides accredited
personnel certification to EN473 and ISO9712 at three levels
in four methods. To better meet the requirements for NDTapproval for PED (RELACRE is an RTPO) the organisation is
now providing specific welding sector certification.
q Finally, there was an interesting paper on Developments
in Industry and the implications for NDT. MARTIFER – a
Portuguese engineering construction company – has gained astrong order book for wind turbines and therefore an interest
in automated UT to examine more than 100 km of welds inturbine towers.
Speakers’ PowerPoint presentations, mostly in Portuguese, will
be posted on the RELACRE website, www.relacre.pt in due course.
Contacts in RELACRE are Jose Duarte (President), Armando Lima
(Director) and Claudia Almeida (Certification).

ICNDT Journal Vol 7 No 10 June 2008

Regional Report

Contact:
J Conte – abende@abende.org.br
W Holliday – wholliday@asnt.org

PAN-AMERICA

The ASNT NDT Career Video‘Choose NDT’ availableH

ow did you find yourself in the non-destructive testing
field? Was it happenstance, an unplanned set ofcircumstances, or did you choose a career in NDT? NDT
has been called the “accidental profession” and for much of thecurrent workforce this has been the case. A good bit has been said
and written in the last several years about the pending retirementof workers from the Baby Boomer generation. Non-destructive
testing is not exempt from this concern of having adequate
workers to replace this generation. One step the Society has taken
is to produce a career video, which will plant seeds with young
people about considering a career in NDT. The new video
introduces them to non-destructive testing, its significance topublic safety and the variety of career paths available to those whochoose NDT.
Geared for a young teen audience, the video is an entertaining
tongue in cheek look at what non-destructive testing may havebeen perceived as in the twentieth century versus what an NDT
career can be in the new century.
The video can be seen and downloaded from the link on
the ASNT website. The Society encourages everyone with theopportunity to speak to young people about the NDT profession
to show the video. In a few weeks there will also be a companion
brochure that can be given to audiences after seeing the video. It
will be available in print and as a PDF. Check the ASNT website
for details.
The eight-and-one-half minute production, Choose NDT, isavailable from the web or on DVD. In addition to distributing
Choose NDT to a variety of internet sites, including Google
and YouTube, DVDs are being mailed to schools with NDT
programmes, technical educators, guidance counsellors and ASNT
section leaders.
Contact ASNT’s Marketing and Membership Department withrequests for copies or questions about the video.

ASNT Member survey identifies
NDT industry challenges andfood for thought
In January of this year, ASNT conducted a member survey toascertain, in a general sense, the satisfaction of its membershipwith existing programmes, products and services. A secondary but
significant use of the data is recognising those things that reflect
not only the membership but the industry at large. It can be said
that while taking the pulse of the membership, ASNT was also
getting an important read on the perceived challenges faced by theindustry today and in the foreseeable future.
The web-based survey was open for participation from
11 January 2008 through 14 February 2008. An e-mail inviting
members to take the survey was sent on 11 January. It went to the7940 members for whom the Society had e-mail addresses. Thiswas 82% of the 9661 individual members at that point in time.
In addition, the invitation with a link to the survey was posted
to ASNT’s homepage. The 21-question survey assessed member
satisfaction with ASNT events, publications, and member benefits.
The final result was 2043 total responses to the survey which was
21% of the total membership. This is a strong response rate.
Two questions which should be of interest to all NDT
professionals were the open-ended ones which asked “What are
the biggest challenges facing you today as an NDT professional?”and “What new challenges are you expecting as an NDTICNDT Journal Vol 7 No 10 June 2008

professional?”. To the first question there were 1302 responses
and to the second 1090. With significant repetition, responses
voiced concerns regarding sustaining the NDT workforce, keeping
up with advances in technology, management’s support for andrecognition of NDT programme significance, navigating complex
certification and qualification requirements, adequate training
resources, and economic uncertainty.
Specifically to the question, “What are the biggest challenges
facing you today as an NDT professional?”, listed according to thevolume for each (highest to lowest), ASNT members’ responses
could be grouped into the following categories and subsets ofinterest:
q Workforce issues• Inexperienced workforce• Recruiting• Lack of technically proficient workers• Pay• Retaining qualified individuals
q Technology related• Application of new technologies in-service• Adequate information regarding emerging and new 		technology• Time required to understand new technology
q Management and internal business environment• Budget to support programmes and equipment• Undervalued• Perceived as expense burden by organisation
q Certification and Qualification• Acquiring points for recertification• Dealing with programme complexities• Passing ASNT exams• Relevant exams
q User industry-specific issues
q Training related• Accessible training facilities• Cost and time for training• Quality of programmes
q Economic concerns• Offshore outsourcing• Supply chain changes• Customer expectations• Funding for research and development
q Public and industry awareness of non-destructive testing’s
significance to public safety
To the question: “What new challenges are you expecting as
an NDT professional?” the categories and subsets were the same.
The shift was in totals for each category. One could conjecturefrom this that while people do not anticipate current challenges
being resolved they do suggest a change in what will be of mostconcern. With the subsets the same, the categories in order ofvolume were:
q Technology related
q Workforce issues
q Certification and Qualification
q Management and internal business environmentq Training related
q User industry specific issues
q Economic concerns
q Public and industry awareness of non-destructive testing’s
significance to public safety
Want to read more about the survey’s results? For thoseinterested in a comprehensive review of the survey, visit the ASNT
website at www.asnt.org and see the July issue of ASNT’s monthly
journal Materials Evaluation.

9

PAN-AMERICA

17th Annual Research Symposium
held in Anaheim, California, USAH

eld in sunny southern California 31 March – 4 April, ASNT’s
17th Annual Research Symposium & Spring Conference
was host to 374 attendees. The four-day event opened
with Monday evening’s welcome reception sponsored by the 32
exhibiting companies. Tuesday’s sessions began with the keynote
address, an Overview of Military Space Missions and Need for
NDE presented by Dr Gary F Hawkins, Principal Director, Space
Materials Laboratory, The
Aerospace
Corporation.
Hawkins’ talk covered how
the United States militaryutilises resources in space.
He discussed the extreme
cost of launch vehicles andthe high level of reliability
in each space system.
Hawkins detailed how nondestructive evaluation plays The audience at the keynotea crucial role in assuring the address
success of space missions.
The talk was a terrific way to start the seventy paper presentationsof sessions which ranged from the state of calibration to structural
health monitoring and NDE reliability, to pipeline NDE and digital
X-ray.

A

ASNT and AINDT sign an
Agreement of Cooperationt the ASNT Fall Conference in November 2007 in Las Vegas,
the American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT) andthe Australian Institute of Non-Destructive Testing (AINDT)
formalised an historic Agreement for Professional Cooperation
between the two societies. Officiating at this ceremony were
Tony Sonneveld, AINDT, Marvin W Trimm, Chairman of ASNT’s
Board, and Victor L Hernandez, the President of ASNT. Wayne
Holliday, Executive Officer of ASNT played an instrumental rolein the drafting of the agreement, which proved a highlight in theproceedings of the conference.

L to R Marvin Trimm – Chairman of the Board of ASNT, Tony Sonneveld(AINDT) and Victor L Hernandez, current President of ASNT

Agreements of this kind, by their very nature, reinforce the spiritof cooperation between the respective organisations and signal
greater interaction over a broad spectrum of issues, including thepromotion of the art, science and technology of non-destructive
testing. Such an association will strengthen greatly the ties between
ASNT and AINDT and cement existing relationships in terms of
future mutual recognition for NDT personnel and qualificationand certification programmes. Tony, particularly, was delighted at
the outcome of the cooperation agreement and this enthusiasm
was shared by the executive of ASNT.

Shant Kenderian presenting a plaque to the keynote address presenter
Gary Hawkins, PhD

Society accepting abstracts for2008 Fall Conference &Quality Testing ShowT

here is still opportunity to submit abstracts for consideration
for the ASNT Fall Conference & Quality Testing Show2008. The 2008 conference, Great Expectations in NDT,
is scheduled for 10-14 November in Charleston, South Carolina,
USA. Desired topics include health monitoring, infrastructure,laser methods, phased array, radiation safety, homeland security,
composites and modelling and simulation. Submission information
and requirements are provided on the ASNT website www.asnt.
org. From the homepage click on the ‘Meetings and Events’ link
and select the Fall Conference.

Presentation in recognition of Research Program Committee Chair
Shant Kenderian and Research Council Chair Lisa Brasche

10

ICNDT Journal Vol 7 No 10 June 2008

PAN-AMERICA

News from the Brazilian Society for NDE (ABENDE)ABENDE more and more present inSouth America
The Association of Engineers of Bolivia (SIB) promoted a seriesof presentations and meetings in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, thelargest oil park in Bolivia, from 12 to 14 February. ABENDE wasrepresented by the senior engineer Luiz Mauro Alves who presented
speeches on conventional NDT, new technologies and personnel
certification. The purpose was to inform and raise awareness in thelocal community of engineers, technicians, teachers and students
on non-destructive testing and personnel certification. Hostinstitutions were: The Bolivian Chamber of Hydrocarbons (CBH),
The Bolivian Institute of Standardization and Quality (IBNORCA),
Petrobras, INEGAS/Petrobras, Military School of Engineers (EMI),
Private University of Santa Cruz (UPSA), Association of Engineersof Bolivia (SIB) and SERVIPETROL. A total of 154 participants
attended the event.

Bolivian Chamber of Hydrocarbons – CBH – andABENDE to sign cooperation agreement
The Bolivian Chamber of Hydrocarbons – CBH – will implement
training activities on NDT in Bolivia with ABENDE’s support.
This is the first step to implement a Bolivian system on personnel
certification, similar to SNQC/END that will be developedby IBNORCA, the technical standardisation body in Bolivia.
Activities will start with a market survey to identify the real needs
in terms of staff demand. The goal is to implement personnel
certification in several segments of the industry, as well as tooffer training courses and qualification tests throughout Bolivia.
This subject was discussed on 17 March when the CBH Strategy
Manager, Engineer Yussef Akly visited ABENDE.

UltrasoundSteelworks sector

With the efforts of the ABENDE Steelworks Committee and basedon the ISO 11484 Standard – Steel tubes for pressure purposes– Qualification and certification of non-destructive testing (NDT)
personnel – a workgroup (GT) on Ultrasound (US) for automatedand semi-automated systems in the steelworks sector has beencreated, aiming at improving the quality and competitiveness ofthe sector. The initial activity of the GT is to create a database ofquestions for professional qualification and certification, meetingthe needs of several companies that have automatic and semiautomatic equipment for seam and seamless tubes, ingots, plates,
among others.

ABENDE invests
ABENDE is dedicated to spread NDT techniques throughout allareas of the industry. Presently, the association is concentratingin the steelworks sector, which is adapting the personnel
qualification and certification system to meet the needs of thesegment. In practice, ABENDE’s Steelworks Committee recently
approved the documents NA 005 (Personnel Qualification
and Certification in NDT for Automatic Systems) and DC 020(Level 3 Personnel Recognition and Certification in Automatic
Equipment). “Companies have already realised the need forchange and are contacting ABENDE’s Steelworks Committee for
information and participation in this process,” explains Edson
Eufrásio, coordinator of the Sectorial Steelworks Committee.
Considered by experts to be strong and in full expansion, theSteelworks Sector needs support to its inspection and quality
activities. “Companies in this area are investing heavily in new
equipment and technology and the great majority have technology
compatible with high developed countries,” Eufrásio adds.
“Several NDT methods and techniques,” continues Eufrásio, “areused in the industrial park. People involved in these inspections

ICNDT Journal Vol 7 No 10 June 2008

have good knowledge of manufacturing processes and defectology
associated with NDT provides more guarantees in testing
performance. Companies need to qualify and certificate these
professionals and to do so we must focus on practical exams,
reflecting their routine and the challenges faced in their daily
work,’’ he highlights.

ABENDE prepares new certifications
Rope access
The Rope Access Work Group is gathering with the objective ofdiscussing the details on qualification for this segment, continuing
the personnel qualification and certification process according to
the NBR 15475 standard – Rope Access – Personnel Qualification
and Certification.

Rescuer
The Special Studies Commission of ABNT (Brazilian Associationof Technical Standards) on Qualification and Certification of Rope
Access in High and Confined Space Rescue has recently met to start
the elaboration of the standard carrying the same title of theCommission. Meetings were held on 3 and 4 March with ABENDE
participation represented by the Manager of the Certification
Department, Erick Lage.

New documents of the Sectorial Standardization
Programme (PNS)ABENDE’s Standardization Department publishes the new
documents of the Sectorial Standardization Programme (PNS),
which is annual, approved by the Brazilian Association of TechnicalStandards (ABNT) and elaborated by the Standardization Body of
ABENDE – ONS-58. Its objective is to define the list of Brazilian
Standards (NBR) to be elaborated, to meet the sector’s need, bystudy commissions, in this case for the NDT and Inspection market.
Documents are available at the website http://www.abende.org.
br/norm_pns.php

List of standards on NDT at ABENDE’s website
In order to keep the NDT community updated and informed,
ABENDE makes available on its website the list of standards
approved in Brazil on non-destructive testing methods with its
description and year of publication. To make the search easier,standards are separated by method. To see the list, visit: www.
abende.org.br/norm_homologadas

3° ENDutos – Call for technical papers
The 3rd Seminar of NDT on ducts is receiving abstracts for technicalpapers, which should be sent in electronic format, via the website.
The event will show technological inspections directly applied toducts and ducting. It is expected to have 150 participants. The event
will be held on 21 and 22 October in the city of Rio de Janeiro. For
more information: http://www.abende.org.br/3endutos, eventos@
abende.com.br or tel: +55 11 5586-3172/3197.

ABENDE fosters participation in the
NDT World Conference
ABENDE invites the Brazilian NDT community to participate
in the next world conference on NDT that will be held from25 to 28 October 2008 in Shanghai, China. To facilitate Brazilians’
participation in the event, ABENDE has prepared a travel packagewith different air ticket and hotel options. ABENDE’s Institutional
Communication Department has also some proposals to help
the formation of a Brazilian companies’ island in the technicalexhibition that is held simultaneously with the Conference. For
more information about ABENDE’s proposal, send an e-mail toeliane@abende.org.br

11

CALENDAR OF NDT EVENTS
Month

Date

Venue

15-18

Edinburgh
ScotlandThe Fifth International Conference on
Condition Monitoring and Machinery
Failure Prevention Technologies

daniel.grove@bindt.org
www.cm2008-mfpt2008.org

20-25

ChicagoUSA

35th Annual Review of Progress in
Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation(QNDE)

qnde3@cnde.iastate.edu

28

ChicagoUSA

ASME Pressure Vessels & Piping(PVP)/CREEP 08 Conference

8-12

California
USA

NDE/NDT for Highways and Bridges:
Structural Materials Technology (SMT)2008

conferences@asnt.org
www.asnt.org/events/events.htm

9-11

Tomsk
Russia

9th International Exhibition on
Non-Destructive Testing and Devices‘Defectoscopy 2008’

www.ndtworld.com

16-18

CheshireUK

NDT 2008 Conference and Exhibition

karen.cambridge@bindt.org

6-9

DenverColorado, USA

International Conference on Prognostics
and Health Management 2008

www.phmconf.org

14-16

MunichGermany

MAINTAIN: International Trade Fair for
Industrial Maintenanceinfo@maintain-europe.com
www.maintain-europe.com

25-28

ShanghaiChina

17th World Conference on NDT

chsndt@public2.sta.net.cn
chsndt2008@163.com
www.17wcndt.com

4-6

Brno
Czech Republic

38th International Conference and NDTExhibition, DEFEKTOSKOPIE 2008

cndt@cndt.cz
www.cndt.cz

10-14

Charleston
USA

ASNT Fall Conference and Quality TestingShow

conferences@asnt.org
www.asnt.org

December
2008

9-12

Kyoto
Japan

September
2009

14-19

Essen
Germany

3rd Quality Testing International
Exhibition 2009

info@messe-essen.dewww.messe-essen.deNovember
2009

8-13

YokohamaJapan

13th Asia-Pacific Conference on
Non-Destructive Testing 2009

apcndt2009@jsndi.or.jp
www.apcndt2009.com

June
2010

7-11

Moscow
Russia10th European Conference on NDT

April
2012

18-20

DurbanSouth Africa

July
2008

September
2008

October
2008

November
2008

12

Event

19th International Acoustic Emission
Symposium

18th World Conference on NDTContact

Carl.Jaske@dnv.com

acd@jsndi.or.jp

spektr@co.ru
www.rsnttd.ru
saint@acenet.co.za
www.saint.org.za

ICNDT Journal Vol 7 No 10 June 2008