Godrej has delivered a major component for the upcoming two Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs) at Rawathbhatta in Rajasthan.

The 40-ton stainless Steel Calandria, with a diameter of some 7.8 metres and 32 mm-thick walls, was manufactured in Mumbai and handed over recently to the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPC).

The event will mark a major step in the construction process of the two 700 MW, PHWRs in Rajasthan. At present, it takes 48-52 months for the construction of a nuclear power plant. The units are expected to begin commercial operation in 2016.

The large component left the manufacturing plant on March 24 and was transported by ship to the port of Kandla in Gujarat state. It was then moved by truck to the Rajasthan Atomic Power Plant (RAPP) site, according to the NPC, which is building the units 7&8 at the Rajasthan Atomic Power Plant site.

The calandria forms the reactor vessel of a PHWR. Several hundred fuel channels run its entire length, which will be filled with heavy water moderator.

In May 2010, Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) was awarded an Rs 8,880 million ($150 million) contract to undertake main plant civil works of these units. They will be connected to the Northern Grid, with 700 MW allocated to Rajasthan, says a report in the World Nuclear News.

HCC has constructed all six existing units at RAPP, all PHWRs of varying sizes, the first of which began operating in 1973 and the latest in March 2010.