State-run PSUs Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) and Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) have entered into an MoU to jointly pursue business opportunities in the area of nuclear power plants based on Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) technology. Under the MoU, BHEL and NPCIL will jointly explore opportunities for development of nuclear power projects with a view to reduce project gestation time.
In the presence of Dr. VK Saraswat (Member – NITI Aayog), KN Vyas (Secretary – Department of Atomic Energy & Chairman – Atomic Energy Commission) and Kamran Rizvi (Secretary – Ministry of Heavy Industries), the MoU was signed by Dr. Nalin Shinghal, CMD - BHEL and Bhuwan Chandra Pathak, CMD – NPCIL at NITI Aayog, New Delhi. Senior officials of the Department of Atomic Energy, Ministry of Heavy Industries, BHEL and NPCIL were also present during the occasion.
BHEL is a leading manufacturer of power plant equipment (nuclear, hydro, thermal, and renewables) and is the only Indian company to be actively associated with all the three stages of the Indian Nuclear Programme (1st Stage PHWR, 2nd Stage FBR and 3rd Stage AHWR), providing sustainable and customer centric solutions for over five decades. The company has the capability to design, engineer, manufacture and supply, primary side (Reactor Headers, End Shields, etc.) as well as secondary side (Steam Turbines, Generators, Heat Exchangers, etc.) equipment for Nuclear Power Plants. BHEL has supplied Steam Turbine Generator sets for nearly 50% of the country’s total installed nuclear capacity.
Notably, BHEL-supplied Steam Turbine Generator set for Unit 1 (220 MW) of NPCIL’s Kaiga Nuclear Power Plant in Karnataka had created a world record of 962 days of continuous operation in December, 2018, proving best integrated performance of Nuclear Reactor and Turbine System. With operation of 22 commercial Nuclear Power Plants in India, with a total installed capacity of 6,780 MWe, NPCIL is the sole Indian organization responsible for design, construction and operation of thermal nuclear power plants in India & has over 580 reactor years of safe operating experience.
Collaboration of the two major Public Sector Enterprises will pave the way for early implementation of non-polluting and long-cycle Nuclear Power Projects, which will also complement the G20 theme of environmental sustainability and contribute towards a cleaner & greener future.
