Session Abstracts and PowerPoint Presentations
NDT MGMT SESSION
A - Acquisition Integration Experiences at GE Sensing and Inspection Technologies
Bruce Pellegrino, GEIT
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Acquisitions are an important element of a company’s growth strategy. This presentation will walk through the various steps in the business development acquisition process with a focus on the last step – integration.
B - Risk Management of International Transactions through Contract Drafting and Negotiation
Sue Brooks, Brooks Associates
Managing risks associated with international transactions is part negotiation and part familiarity with, and knowledge of, key legal aspects that will govern the relationship between parties to a contract. A working knowledge of some of these key issues from the perspective of a US company doing business with a foreign entity will help strengthen the negotiation position. From the time of the initial concept throughout the life of the relationship, parties to a contract make decisions that will affect the financial strength of their position. Here I will address making the deal, drafting the contract, resolving disputes and minimizing risks associated with each step of the business relationship.
C - Making Your Company Safer, More Profitable & Lowering Your Insurance Costs
Scott Helmer. Helmer, LLC
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Scott will be sharing methods to make your company safer, more profitable, ways to help reduce your insurance costs.
D - Certification Management – Present Status and Future Challenges
Robert Potter, ASNT CMC Chair
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The presentation will cover the status of the certification programs offered by the American Society for Nondestructive Testing. It will focus on the present status of programs and future programs with regard to value and delivery mechanisms. The intent of the presentation is to promote an open forum for discussion.
FINANCIAL SEMINAR
E - Financial Strategies for Small Business Owners and Executives
Allen Raducha, AAMS, First Vice President, Wachovia Securities
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F - Estate Planning & Business Succession
Daniel Prebish, JD, MBA, First Vice President, Wachovia Securities
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G - Business Succession Solutions
Mark West, Vice President, The Principal Financial Group
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H - Non-Qualified Plans
Rocky Grimes, Regional Vice President, The Principal Financial Group
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The Financial Seminar is made up of the above team of experts from the financial industry to discuss "Financial Strategies for Business Executives". Discussions will include Estate Planning that can help address wealth transfer and wealth preservation as they pertain to succession and exit strategies for business owners. In addition, discussions will include planning for special assets including concentrated stock positions, large retirement plan balances, executive benefits, and real estate holdings; and using trusts to create a legacy that meets tax, family and personal values and goals. Another discussion will include the use of nonqualified plans to reward, recruit and retain key people. The speakers will entertain questions after each discussion. The seminar will be relevant to everyone, regardless of their position in the company, particularly in this uncertain economic climate.
NDT MGMT SESSION II
I - Individual Certification Programs at API
Tina Briskin, API
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The presentation will cover individual certification programs at the American Petroleum Institute – the history, requirements, rules and regulations. Achievements, current state of affairs, and future developments will also be discussed.
J - A Global Perspective of the Nuclear Inspection Services Business
John Gay, Brooks Associates
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Over the past twenty years the demand for Nuclear Inspection Services has dramatically changed. The reduction in outage duration; the aging of the available workforce and the increased demand for more extensive inspection and the reduction in allowable exposure has caused a paradigm shift in inspection approaches. No longer can the industry throw people at the challenge. The companies that persevere will be those that embrace technology. The fact that the available inspection workforce has delivered; that Nuclear Power Plants are aging; and that new nuclear generation will be built, will generate tremendous opportunity for companies that adapt.
K - NDE Performance Demonstration – An Owner’s Perspective
John O’Brien, Chevron Corporation
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There are many demands on the modern supply of quality NDE services to the hydrocarbon industry. The advent of RBI and FFS assessment of pressure equipment increases the demand for high accuracy NDE. Chevron has for a number of years implemented a performance demonstration program for NDE examiners. This program was initially focused on manual shear wave examiners but has now expanded to cover a wide array of NDE techniques. In this presentation we will explain the statistics that drive this requirement along with some of the sizing inaccuracies from trials that can affect our NDE selection process.
L - Mentoring
Charles Hellier, Consultant
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Now more than ever, the Technology of Nondestructive Testing needs mentors. This presentation will discuss the true meaning of mentoring. It will also present several examples of notable mentors from the past and how they influenced others. The attributes of a mentor will also be discussed as well as different ways those of us in Management can become effective mentors to others. The need for ethics and other characteristics essential for successful mentoring will be stressed.
REGULATORY SESSION
M - How to Interact with Regulators – Understanding is the Key to Positive Communication Between Licensees and Regulators
Mike Dunn, Texas Dept. of State Health Services
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The expectations of licensees and regulators are often different, leading to misunderstandings, needless delays addressing regulatory needs and service delivery
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Know who you are communicating with
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What they know
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What they probably don't know
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Reasonable time constraints
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Limitations beyond anyone's control
Regulatory structures have changed while budgets are tightening. Shifting energy issues and a struggling economy make understanding and expectations from licensees and regulators more important than ever.
N - NRC Perspectives and Updates
Terrance Reis, USNRC
The purpose of this presentation will be to inform the nondestructive testing industry on current developments in the NRC's regulations and regulatory programs relative to the security of risk significant radioactive sources. Specifically, the presentation will address the Increased Control orders and current direction of integrating these Increased Controls into the regulatory program. The implementation of the new National Source Tracking System and new reporting requirements effective January 31, 2009 will be addressed; and finally, the proposed rule for transportation requirements for high risk sources will be discussed.
O - New Transportation Rules and Low Level Waste Disposal Requirements
Kate Roughan, Sentinel, representing NSCC (Nuclear Sector Coordinating Council)
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With the many different enhanced security requirements being imposed by Regulatory Agencies, primarily the USNRC, industry has struggled to meet short deadlines to implement new security programs and processes. Industry has had to implement new infrastructure to support these new requirements, such as fingerprinting, document protection, and other initiatives. With different regulatory agencies requiring different actions, it is difficult to assure compliance to all requirements and to assure there are not gaps in the coverage. Industry has been proactive in participating in committees and workshops with Regulators to assure the requirements are realistic based on risk and cost benefit analysis, and if, in fact, they can be effectively implemented. This paper covers the ongoing initiatives Industry is involved in.
TECHNICAL SESSION
P - Alternatives to Ultraviolet for Viewing and Photographing Florescent Indications: Theoretical and Practical Considerations
Charles H. Mazel, Blueline NDT
For decades ultraviolet light from mercury vapor type sources has been the dominant type of light for fluorescence inspection in the NDT industry. New light sources, even those with alternative ways of providing ultraviolet light, may not be as effective in exciting fluorescence. Measurements based on the underlying physics of fluorescence demonstrate that ultraviolet is not required for use with all fluorescent materials, and in some cases with commonly used materials it is not even the most efficient choice. This presentation will review the principles of fluorescence and how they provide guidance for the selection and quantitative evaluation of alternative light sources.
Q - New and Advanced NDT Technology
Tyrance Jackson, TechCorr Inspection & Engineering
NDT is a means of Testing to detect defects in materials using techniques that do not damage or destroy the items being tested. For decades, Ultrasonics has been the most effective, trusted and reliable method for the testing of metallic materials, but times have changed. Complicated weld design, supply and demand along with many other diversions have forced technological advances in the NDT industry.
From the inspection of Welds to In-service Tank Inspection the use of Advanced Inspection techniques is becoming the preferred means of inspection industry wide. Regulatory compliance and other industry governing bodies are now recommending the use of some of the advanced methods to achieve the proper results. In order to keep up with these ever changing inspection methods, industry professionals must be able to identify these advanced methods and be able to determine their applications.
R - Coal Flow Monitoring and Control
George Rhodes, PNM Resources
The majority of American power is produced from burning coal. In this process, coal chunks are pulverized and blown into multiple pipes before entering a furnace. The furnace (heat exchanger) creates steam, which runs a turbine and generates electricity. Ideally, the air/coal ratio is maintained at about 2. However, the ability to uniformly deliver the same amount of A/C per pipe has been heretofore next to impossible, because no reliable method to measure coal mass flow existed. This condition results in A/C ratios varying between 0.5 and 16, 5% to 9% more coal than necessary being consumed, creating excess emissions and contributing to excessive plant degradation. This paper will illustrate how acoustic emission solved the problem and when coupled with a unique control valve, corrected the problems outlined above.
S - Not All X-Ray Generators are Created Equal
George McLachlan, X-Ray Associates LLC
In the beginning all X-Ray Generation Systems were very unpredictable. As High Voltage Technology has advanced, not all X-Ray Generators have evolved with the Technology. But in the end not all the X-Ray systems in use today produce the same results
