Within the frame of the AMES-NDT concerted action, preparatory work, including a state of the art report on NDT techniques existing world-wide, is carried out. Demonstration tests will be performed by using various NDT techniques; including magnetic, electric, ultrasonic and techniques based on atomic and nuclear physics phenomena.

Materials are ageing due to many different causes; e. g. thermal treatments, thermal ageing, stress ageing, corrosion, and irradiation embrittlement. At EC-JRC-IAM, Petten, experimental studies are carried out for both thermal and irradiation embrittlement.

The reliability of the NDT techniques, such as the thermal-electric power measurement, is carefully studied for its capability to distinguish different stages of ageing of steels.

The mechanical properties of different steels and the thermoelectric power measurements are compared.

This paper will give an overview of the EC-JRC-IAM experimental work in the field on materials ageing and the use of thermoelectric power measurement as NDT techniques to evaluate materials ageing.