NDT Training USA

NDT training in the USA: how US employers and technicians train with Atlantis

Short answer: Atlantis NDT trains technicians in all 50 states and Washington, DC to ASNT SNT-TC-1A Level I, II and III in UT, PAUT, TOFD, RT, MT, PT, VT and ET. Theory is taught self-paced online or onsite at the employer's facility, practicals run on real specimens under an ASNT Level III, and the employer certifies each technician under its own written practice. We have no fixed campus; the training goes to the crew.

That is a deliberate choice. The US NDT workforce is spread across refinery corridors, shipyards, steel mills, aerospace plants, pipelines, power stations and thousands of fabrication shops, and most of them are a long way from any NDT school. For an employer, sending a crew away for a block of classes means travel, hotels and lost shifts, usually right when a turnaround or outage needs them. Self-paced online theory plus an onsite practical block led by a Level III removes most of that cost, and it lets us build the practical around the parts, welds and codes your people actually work with.

This page is the national directory. Below you will find every US state training page and every city training page we publish, grouped by region, with a short overview of each region's industries and radiation regulators. After the directory come the parts that are the same everywhere: how SNT-TC-1A certification works, how online and onsite delivery fit together, what employers need on file, and the questions people ask most. If you already know what you need, request a US training quote; we reply within one business day.

What US NDT training with Atlantis covers

Hours by method and level are in the SNT-TC-1A training requirements matrix. Course detail is on the method pages, for example the UT Level 2 course, RT Level 2 course, MT Level 2 course, PT Level 2 course, ET Level 2 course and phased array training.

NDT training by state: the US directory

Every state below has a training page, and most have one or more city pages for the metros where NDT work concentrates. Each page covers local industries, codes, licensing and delivery for that area; all of them are served the same way, online and onsite at your facility. The last column shows who licenses radioactive materials for isotope radiography in each state. In NRC Agreement States the state radiation programme does this; in the remaining states and Washington, DC, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission does. X-ray equipment is registered with the state everywhere. Always confirm current licensing with the agency before radiography work.

Northeast and Mid-Atlantic

The Northeast and Mid-Atlantic is the country's naval shipbuilding and jet-engine belt, and that shapes what employers ask for. Bath Iron Works in Maine, General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut, and Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia build and maintain Navy ships and submarines, so NAVSEA-driven inspection requirements sit alongside SNT-TC-1A. Pratt & Whitney's East Hartford engine work and a dense aerospace supply chain in Connecticut and Massachusetts drive demand for ET, PT and UT under aerospace specifications. Add the refineries and terminals around New Jersey and Philadelphia, older bridges and transit structures in every major city, nuclear and fossil power plants, and Marcellus gas pipelines across Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

On radiography regulation, most states here are NRC Agreement States with their own radiation programmes. Connecticut became the 40th Agreement State in September 2025. Delaware, West Virginia and Washington, DC are still regulated by the NRC for radioactive materials; West Virginia has passed legislation to become an Agreement State, so check its status before planning work there. X-ray equipment is registered with the state in every case.

Regional pages: Northeast NDT training, Mid-Atlantic NDT courses, NDT training in Appalachia.

Southeast

The Southeast mixes nuclear, power, aerospace and ports. The Savannah River Site near Aiken, South Carolina, and the Oak Ridge complex in Tennessee bring nuclear-quality programmes with strict documentation. Utilities across the Carolinas, Georgia and Tennessee run large nuclear and fossil fleets with regular outages. Aircraft manufacturing and maintenance, automotive plants, and shipping through Savannah, Charleston, Jacksonville and Tampa add steady demand for UT, MT, PT and VT. Florida adds aerospace and launch-related work along its coasts.

Every state in this region is an NRC Agreement State, so industrial radiography licences come from the state radiation programme rather than the NRC. Port work at the big container and bulk terminals often requires a TWIC card for unescorted access.

Regional pages: Southeast NDT training.

Gulf Coast and South Central

This is the largest NDT labour market in the country. The refinery and petrochemical corridors along the Houston Ship Channel, Beaumont and Port Arthur, Lake Charles and the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans run continuous inspection programmes and huge turnaround seasons. LNG export terminals, thousands of miles of pipelines, Permian Basin production around Midland and Odessa, and Oklahoma's pipeline hub at Cushing add more. Shipbuilding in Pascagoula and Mobile and aerospace and defence work around Huntsville round it out. Employers here ask for UT, PAUT and TOFD for turnaround welds, RT for pipeline and piping, and MT and PT everywhere.

All six states are Agreement States. Texas licenses radiography through the Department of State Health Services, and Louisiana through the Department of Environmental Quality; the others run their own programmes. TWIC is commonly required at refinery docks, chemical plants and ports along the coast.

Regional pages: Gulf Coast NDT training, NDT courses in inland Texas, Permian Basin NDT training.

Midwest and Great Lakes

The Midwest is steel, autos, rail, refining and aerospace. Integrated steel mills along southern Lake Michigan, refineries such as BP Whiting and those around Chicago, Toledo and the Twin Cities, the automotive supply chain from Detroit through Ohio and Indiana, and the freight-rail network centred on Chicago all need MT, UT and VT. Wichita's aircraft manufacturing brings aerospace ET and UT, and the Bakken around Williston brings pipeline and production work. Fabrication shops in every state supply all of them.

Regulation here is the most mixed in the country. Michigan, Missouri and South Dakota are still NRC-regulated for radioactive materials. Indiana became the 41st Agreement State on 30 September 2026, moving licensing to the Indiana Department of Homeland Security. The rest of the region is made up of Agreement States. Crews that cross state lines, for example between Indiana and Illinois, need reciprocity for each jurisdiction.

Regional pages: Midwest NDT training, Great Lakes NDT courses.

Mountain West

The Mountain West is pipelines, mining, energy and national labs. Oil and gas production in Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico, long-haul pipelines, hard-rock and coal mining, and large power plants drive UT, MT and RT. Idaho National Laboratory near Idaho Falls and the national laboratories in New Mexico bring nuclear-quality programmes. Phoenix's semiconductor fab construction and aerospace industry add VT, PT and UT on process piping and structural steel, and Salt Lake City and Denver anchor fabrication and aerospace supply chains.

Idaho and Montana are NRC-regulated for radioactive materials; the other six states are Agreement States, with Wyoming among the more recent to sign. Distances are long, which is exactly why onsite and self-paced online delivery work well here.

Regional pages: Rockies and Plains NDT training.

West Coast and Pacific

The West Coast combines aerospace, refining, shipyards and nuclear clean-up. Aircraft and space manufacturing around Seattle, Los Angeles and San Diego drives ET, PT and UT under aerospace specifications. Refineries in the Bay Area, Los Angeles and Puget Sound, several of them now converted to renewable fuels, run demanding corrosion-monitoring programmes. Navy and commercial shipyards in San Diego and Puget Sound, the Hanford site near Richland, and ports along the whole coast add more.

California, Oregon and Washington are all Agreement States. California's Department of Public Health requires radiographers to carry a recognised radiographer certification card, and refinery process-safety rules there are among the strictest in the country.

Regional pages: West Coast NDT training, Southern California NDT courses, Pacific Northwest NDT training.

Alaska and Hawaii

Alaska and Hawaii are the two states where travel costs dominate training decisions. Alaska's work centres on North Slope production, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, refining and terminals, and military bases around Anchorage and Fairbanks. Hawaii's centres on Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, harbour and fuel infrastructure, power plants and aviation maintenance in a salt-air environment that is hard on steel.

Both states are NRC-regulated for radioactive materials, so radiography licensing runs through the NRC rather than a state programme. Both are also places where flying a Level III to the crew usually beats flying the crew to a mainland classroom.

Not on the list? We train in every US state, including those without a dedicated city page. Start with the state page, read how "NDT training near me" searches are served, or ask about training in your state. Crews in Canada should see NDT training in Canada.

How NDT certification works across the US

There is no national government licence for NDT technicians in the United States. Instead, most US employers certify their own people under ASNT's recommended practice SNT-TC-1A, and the customer, the code or the contract decides whether that is acceptable. Some sectors add their own layer: aerospace primes and their suppliers often work to NAS 410, nuclear work follows owner programmes and federal quality rules, and Navy shipyards follow NAVSEA requirements. Atlantis trains to SNT-TC-1A only; those other schemes are context you will meet in some regions, not courses we offer.

Under SNT-TC-1A, the employer writes a written practice that sets training hours, experience requirements, exam content, pass marks and recertification rules. The steps are the same in every state:

1. Written practice in place and approved by the employer's Level III. If you need one, see written practice development.
2. Formal training in the method and level, for the classroom hours the written practice requires.
3. On-the-job experience, supervised and logged.
4. General, specific and practical exams, administered and graded under a Level III.
5. Vision test, repeated at least annually.
6. Written certification by the employer, then recertification at the interval the written practice sets.

Because the certification belongs to the employer, it does not automatically transfer when a technician changes jobs. The new employer reviews the training and experience records and re-examines or certifies under its own written practice. That is why clean, complete training records matter so much in the US market: they are what lets a technician move between employers without starting from zero. ASNT also runs central certifications, including ASNT NDT Level III; many employers expect their Level III to hold it. See SNT-TC-1A training and certification and ASNT Level III training.

State rules enter the picture mainly for radiography. Isotope and X-ray radiography need a licence or registration for the employer and, under the federal rule and its state equivalents, a radiographer certification for the individual, usually ASNT's IRRSP certification or a state-issued card. SNT-TC-1A RT Level II and a radiographer card are different things; radiographers typically hold both. Site access adds another layer at ports, refineries and chemical plants, where a TSA TWIC card is often required.

Self-paced online or onsite: choosing a delivery mode

Every US course can be delivered three ways, and most employers combine them:

The practical portion is never fully remote. Under any credible written practice, practical training and the practical exam need real equipment, real specimens and a Level III present. What online delivery does is remove travel from the theory portion, which is most of the classroom time. For individuals, that means you can complete theory from anywhere and arrange the practical through your employer or an onsite cohort. For employers, it means one short onsite visit instead of weeks away. Read more on NDT training online and corporate NDT training.

Scheduling around the industrial calendar matters. Refinery turnarounds cluster in spring and autumn, nuclear and fossil outages follow utility schedules, and shipyards work to availability dates. We plan cohorts around those windows and split courses into blocks so technicians are not off the job for long stretches. Ask about onsite training for your crew.

For US employers: Level III services and audit-ready records

Most US NDT audits, whether by an owner, a prime contractor or a certification body, come down to the same file: the written practice, each technician's training record, experience log, exam records with scores, vision test and signed certification. Smaller inspection companies and fabrication shops often run on an outside Level III to keep that file in order. Atlantis provides:

• Written practice development and review to SNT-TC-1A (written practice development).
• Level III of record, procedure writing and exam administration (ASNT Level III consulting services).
• Audit preparation for owner and customer audits, by sector (refining, pipeline, aerospace, power generation).
• State consulting pages, such as NDT consulting in Texas, California, Louisiana and Pennsylvania, and the national US consulting overview.

Book a Level III consultation to review your written practice or certification files.

Training by industry

The same methods serve very different industries, and the practical training should look like the work. Industry pages explain what each sector asks for: oil and gas NDT training, pipeline NDT training, aerospace NDT training, power generation NDT training, nuclear NDT training, maritime NDT training and manufacturing NDT training. Use them together with your state page to see both the sector and the local rules.

Practise before the practical exam

The Practical NDT simulator lets trainees practise 12 method families in 12 workplaces, including an NDT lab, a welding workshop, an aircraft hangar, an oil and gas site and a storage tank. It is useful for rehearsing set-ups, scan patterns and reporting between online sessions. It is practice only and does not replace hands-on training or the practical exam on real specimens.

Your instructor

Atlantis training is led by Anoop Rayavarapu, ASNT NDT Level III and founder of Atlantis NDT. He oversees course content, practical examinations and the written-practice work behind each certification, and leads ASNT Level III exam preparation directly.

Frequently asked questions about NDT training in the USA

How do I get NDT certified in the US?

Most US technicians are certified by their employer under ASNT SNT-TC-1A. You complete classroom training, log supervised experience, pass general, specific and practical exams under a Level III and a vision test, and the employer signs your certification under its written practice. Atlantis delivers the training and exams.

Is there a national NDT licence in the United States?

No. There is no federal or general state licence for NDT technicians. Certification is employer-based under SNT-TC-1A or similar schemes. The main exception is radiography, where employers need a radioactive-materials licence or X-ray registration and radiographers need a recognised radiographer certification.

Can I take NDT training online anywhere in the US?

Yes, for the theory. Self-paced online modules cover classroom hours from any state. Practical training and the practical exam are done in person on real specimens, at your employer's facility or an onsite cohort.

Do you have a training centre in my city?

No. Atlantis has no physical training centre in any US city. We teach self-paced online and onsite at your facility, which is how the state and city pages above are served.

How long does it take to get NDT Level 2 certified?

It depends on the method and on your employer's written practice. SNT-TC-1A recommends minimum classroom and experience hours, and the experience time is usually the longest part. See the training requirements matrix.

What is the difference between an Agreement State and an NRC state for radiography?

In an Agreement State, the state radiation programme licenses and inspects radioactive-materials users, including radiography companies. In non-Agreement States and Washington, DC, the NRC does. The directory above lists which applies in each state. Indiana became the 41st Agreement State on 30 September 2026.

Will my certification transfer if I move to another state?

SNT-TC-1A certification belongs to your employer, not to the state, so it does not transfer automatically when you change employers. Your new employer reviews your training and experience records and certifies you under its own written practice. Moving states with the same employer does not change it.

What does NDT training cost in the US?

We quote on request, because the price depends on methods, levels, headcount and whether the practical is onsite. We reply within one business day. Request a US training quote.

Can I use the GI Bill or WIOA for NDT training?

The GI Bill pays for VA-approved programmes, and WIOA funds providers on each state's Eligible Training Provider List. Atlantis does not claim either approval, so check the VA's WEAMS search and your state's ETPL. Employer-paid training under the company's written practice is the most common route.

Do you train to API, CWI, NAS 410 or ISO 9712?

No. Atlantis trains to ASNT SNT-TC-1A only. Some employers also ask for API inspector authorisations, AWS CWI, NAS 410 or ISO 9712 certification; those are separate schemes run by other bodies.

Can you train a crew at several US sites?

Yes. Multi-site employers usually run shared self-paced online theory for everyone and onsite practical blocks at each location, under one written practice. See corporate NDT training.

Can I prepare for ASNT Level III with Atlantis?

Yes. We run preparation for the ASNT Level III Basic and method exams, led by an ASNT Level III. See ASNT Level III training and practice sets such as UT Level 2 practice questions.

Ready to plan? Request a US training quote, browse all training programmes, or ask about the self-paced online course.