A method for determining the sensitivity of acoustic-emission inspection during the detection of flaws of different sizes is presented. According to the method, the sensitivity is determined as the detection probability of through holes of a certain size during the axial compression of 09Γ2C steel cylindrical pipes. The obtained sensitivity of the acoustic-emission method is compared with the wellknown data on the sensitivity of the ultrasonic, capillary, and radiographic nondestructive-testing methods