India moved a step forward in critical nuclear technology with the city-based Nuclear Fuel Complex indigenously developing and manufacturing steam generator tubes, an important component in nuclear power reactors. With this the Nuclear Fuel Complex joined an elite club as only three companies in the world manufacture steam generator tubes. Till now, India had to depend on imports for the steam generator tubes.
The first batch of tubes was formally handed over on Monday to Larsen & Toubro, which has bagged the contract for two nuclear power plants. “The steam generator tubes are a critical technology and foreign companies would often delay the delivery process at the eleventh hour or jack up the price without prior notice. Now that NFC has indigenised the technology, no one can hold India to ransom,” said Mr Madhukar Vinayak Kotwal, president (Heavy Engineering), L&T Limited.
The tubes will be integrated into the eight steam generators being manufactured by L&T for Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited for the Kakrapara and Rajasthan nuclear power plants. Mr Kotwal added that in line with L&T’s strategy of promoting self-reliance, the company had opted to source the tubes from NFC rather than import them. The U-tubes have very stringent technical requirements covering chemical and mechanical properties, surface finish and ultrasonic testing. The process of “glass peening” — the final and most critical operation carried out on the U-bend tubes — has been developed for the first time in India.