PSU power equipment maker, Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has bagged a contract worth about Rs 345 crore from the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL).

The contract entails the manufacturing of steam generators for its Kakrapara atomic power project in Gujarat. This is the company’s first-ever order for manufacturing 700MWe (megawatt electric) nuclear steam generators. These steam generators will be manufactured at the Trichy plant of Bhel.

A Bhel statement issued her on Friday said, "Bhel has bagged the first-ever order for steam generators for nuclear sets for NPCIL’s Kakrapara atomic power project in Gujarat. The Steam Generators are to be designed, manufactured and tested according to American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME Sec III Standards). The detailed design including design analysis like thermo hydraulics, stress analysis etc are to be carried out by Bhel.”

State run, Bhel has designed, installed and commissioned nearly 80% of NPCIL’s 4,120 MW installed capacity. Till now, Bhel had been supplying boilers and turbines for up to 540 mw nuclear power generation units.

Commenting over this, an industry analyst said, "The nuclear power plants in India were running at 45-50% of their capacity because of the shortage of fuel. With the nuclear deal in place now, it gives NPCIL a clear visibility in supply of fuel and gives it the comfort to expand capacity."

Recently, both Bhel and NPCIL had signed agreements with GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) to prepare for the construction of new nuclear power reactors in India.