L&T completes manufacture of component for world’s largest nuclear fusion project

Engineering major Larsen & Toubro has completed the manufacturing of a key component, cryostat, for International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), an ambitious project acked by seven countries that aims to use fusion to generate large-scale and carbon-free energy.
L&T bagged the Rs 1,338-order to manufacture the cryostat in 2012 to manufacture the cryostat, the largest stainless-steel, high-vacuum pressure chamber in the world. The company has completed the manufacture of components at its unit in Hazira and will now assemble it in France.

At the flagging off event, L&T Chairman AM Naik shared that he dismissed the proposal of his team to participate in this project four times due to the risks involved in this. “All the risks that we pursued, our team, along with the international team could resolve one by one. I hope that now the project can be brought to its successful conclusion in four years so that we have a unique project that can abundantly give green and clean energy to the world,” he said.

L&T has participated in the setting up of all the 22 nuclear reactors in India, and has capability to take on more projects. However, capacity addition in the nuclear power sector in India has been slow due to issues relating to liabilities, and local protests.

“Nuclear procurement is moving very slow in both domestic as well as the foreign technology. In domestic space, Nuclear Power Corporation of India has clearance from the government starting from May 2017 but not a single tender has been ordered, we hope something is ordered in the next 2-3 months. The foreign technology based projects could take another one and a half years,” A.V. Parab, executive vice president and head of L&T’s Heavy Engineering division told ET.

L&T’s Heavy Engineering division has an order book of Rs 3,000 crore, of which a third comes from nuclear power sector.

“We expect orders worth Rs 1,500 crore - Rs 2,500 crore over the next two years in nuclear space,” Parab said.

L&T’s overall order book is worth over Rs 3 lakh crore.