Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) said this week it had achieved a component milestone by dispatching its 40th steam generator (SG) to the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL).
The steam generator is headed for the NPCIL's Rajasthan Atomic Power Project, the dispatch said. The company, however, has been supplying the country's nuclear power industry since 1976 with services that include design, manufacturing and testing of critical components, such as reactor headers, generators, heat exchangers and pressure vessels.
Notably, BHEL is the only Indian company associated with all the three stages of the Indian Nuclear Power Programme-the first stage Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR), the second stage Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR) and the third stage Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) and has been a partner for over four decades in the development of the indigenous Nuclear Power Programme since its inception. Recently, equipped with BHEL-supplied sets, the 220 MW Unit-1 at the indigenously developed Kaiga Atomic Power Station (KAPS) of NPCIL, has created a world record for continuous operation. The complete Steam Turbine Generator set and all the Steam Generators for the above unit of NPCIL have been manufactured and supplied by BHEL.
The unit now stands first among all the Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors (PHWR) in the world in terms of uninterrupted operation.