MIDHANI, NFC flag off 2nd consignment of SG Tubes to be supplied to BHEL

Hyderabad: Mishra Dhatu Nigam (MIDHANI) and Nuclear Fuel Complex (NFC) have flagged off their second consignment of SG Tubes to be supplied to BHEL, Trichy. This is the second supply in the present calendar year and the third is also expected to be completed by December 2021. According to MIDHANI, it has been supplying various critical products viz. lattice tubes, end fittings and has developed a number of speciality alloys, super-alloys, special steels to meet the strategic need of Space, Defence and Nuclear power programs of India.

MIDHANI and NFC together had participated in a global tender for the supply of critical Steam Generator (SG) tubes to BHEL, Trichy and won the tender. It may be worth noting here that, in the past, either SG Tubes in the final finish condition were procured from foreign vendors or converted indigenously by importing the critical forged/rolled input raw material. Further, there are only a few notable manufacturers around the globe who have the capability to produce these tubes. In India MIDHANI and NFC combine is the only manufacturer having this capability to manufacture right from raw material forged billets to the required SG Tubes.

SG tubes comprise a substantial portion of the reactor coolant pressure boundary (RCPB) and play a role in fission product containment. Their integrity is important to the safe operation of a nuclear reactor. As a result, regulatory authorities around the world have established stringent requirements to ensure SG tube integrity is maintained.

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Thus, considering the overly critical nature of these tubes in nuclear energy applications, the process of making SG tubes from the Billets is extraordinarily complex, consisting of a large number of processes, re-conditioning, inspection and testing stages. Extensive conditioning of the material at every stage is required for the qualification of these tubes owing to stringent specification requirements. The cycle period of the material at NFC is exceedingly high due to the number of processes involved in making these special nature tubes and extensive QS activities by multiple agencies (BHEL, NPCIL and NFC) for witnessing or reviewing at various stages of processing.

"This combination is now very keen to get work together to bid for one more SG and awaiting formal clearance from the concerned authorities. With the fresh capacity additions, MIDHANI is all geared up to deliver the goods to many similar missions particularly to the nuclear industry," said MIDHANI in an official press release. 

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