Invest in Prevention

With the economy in an uproar, it can be difficult to focus on investing in long term maintenance and prevention of infrastructure failure. And yet, those investments are crucial to America’s infrastructure and our ability to recover from recession. Prevention and mitigation of corrosion in bridges, pipelines, power plants, liquid natural gas storage facilities and ports saves millions of dollars in future repairs, but even more importantly, prevents major disasters that disrupt commerce—something America cannot afford.

We only have to look back at the tragic loss of the I-35W Bridge in Minnesota last year to see the disruption caused by the collapse and 12 month repair. (Corroded gusset plates were part of the reason for the failure.) The Minnesota Commercial Railway was blocked, along with numerous auto and truck routes. The Federal Aviation Administration restricted pilots in the vicinity for a period. Thirty five people lost their jobs when Aggregate Industries, a company that delivered construction materials by barge, cut production in the area. Many businesses, large and small, near the collapse site reported losses of 25% to 50% of their income. Ultimately, the state increased the fuel tax by $0.055 per gallon to fund Mn/DOT maintenance. The new bridge cost $234 million. The cost in loss of life was immeasurable.

And, we can learn from an incident across the ocean: on June 3, 2008, a natural gas pipeline exploded in Western Australia. Reports say the explosion cut that nation’s fuel supply by a third and drained between $2.4 billion and $4.5 billion from Australia’s economy. The investigating body, Australia’s National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority, reported that the rupture occurred because of thinning of the pipe wall and corrosion of the external surface.

Proven technology exists to prevent these disasters. In the United States, cathodic protection is required on energy-carrying pipelines. Other structures, such as bridges, tunnels, power plants, piers and ports can also be protected from corrosion by involving certified corrosion engineers in planning new structures and maintaining existing structures. The cost of including the right people and the right technology in America’s infrastructure is minimal in comparison to the cost of corrosion, which is $276 billion or 3.1% of the GDP.

We’ve learned that we can’t put blinders on and hope the worst won’t happen. It’s time to be realistic and invest in our future.

William R. Schutt
President and CEO
MATCOR, Inc.
Doylestown PA
www.matcor.com

Is nuclear disaster imminent?

Chernobyl. The city is synonymous with nuclear catastrophe. The human and environmental toll exacted by this Soviet facility left an indelible mark on the Soviet Union’s engineering credibility, and played a role in the demise of its communist government.

The explosion at the Ukrainian facility is recognized as the worst nuclear plant accident ever. Yet, as those in the corrosion world know, even well-designed facilities are subject to the unrelenting march of time. This is true for protecting nuclear plants and dumping grounds.

Just last weekend, news broke that salt water had corroded three enormous storage tanks at a nuclear waste dump in the Russian Arctic, off the coast of Norway. The tanks held spent nuclear fuel rods.

These problems aren’t always a world away. The United States derives 20 percent of its electricy from some 100 nuclear facilities -- all in their third decade of operation, all nearing the end of their 40-year design life.

Some already received 20 year extensions to their operating permits by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Most of the rest are expected to apply for and receive extensions.

While the U.S. nuclear industry takes pride in its outstanding leak-free operation record, these aging facilities are increasingly at risk for corrosion.

Once example is Ohio's Besse-Davis facility. It was shut down in 2002, when a routine inspection uncovered a football-sized corroded area on the reactor head, the result of a leaking boric acid line.

These incidents should sound alarms. My proposed solution: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should work with the NRC to require all nuclear plants, storage facilities, and other such structures to develop aggressive integrity management programs, mirrored after the Department of Transportation’s pipeline integrity program. Frequent risk-based inspections are the only way to assure public safety.