Actuarial engineering approaches for the life management of power plant equipment

This paper provides an overview of the various methods and technologies being developed to support the newly emerging discipline of "actuarial engineering"-the science of using actuarial methods with reliability engineering tools to manage risk inherent in high-value assets like power plants. Organizations like GE are unique in having both an insurance subsidiary in addition to heavy manufacturing businesses. Recent interaction and research between property-casualty actuaries and reliability engineers has resulted in the development of formal approaches to fleet risk management. This research exploits synergies and commonalities between insurance and fleet reliability, including long terms service agreements and extended warranties. This paper presents first, an overview of fleet reliability as practiced in industry; second, an overview of actuarial science; third, a summary of the many structural and technical parallels and finally a review of areas for further research that would help the industry