State-run Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) has signed a technology transfer deal with the world's largest independently owned forgemaster, the UK-based Sheffield Forgemasters to manufacture nuclear forgings.

The 10-year deal will see Sheffield Forgemasters using its expertise to oversee the construction of new steel-making and forging facilities for hydro, nuclear and thermal power components in India.

BHEL, in turn, will buy Sheffield Forgemasters' technology durimg the deal period for a royalty on sales of these products.

In January, BHEL CMD, K Ravi Kumar had said that the company was looking at a joint venture with a European firm for manufacturing nuclear forgings to buy technology, without disclosing the identity of the company. (See: BHEL to form JV with European firm for manufacturing nuclear forgings)

Earlier in December, he had said that BHEL and its joint venture partner Nuclear Power Corporation of India were in talks with Japanese and European companies for a casting and forgings plant under a joint venture and was also in the process of entering the field of nuclear reactors. It already has a . (See: BHEL-NPCIL joint venture finalising technology partner) 

With the signing of the Indo-US nuclear deal, India is looking to enhance its nuclear power generation capacity by building more reactors and to meet its requirement of 700-800 nuclear forgings, experts say that India will require a minimum of two or three manufacturing plants as China, whose nuclear industry is growing at a rapid pace already has five large nuclear forging plants.

The 200-year old Sheffield Forgemasters expects its deal with BHEL to genrate around £30 million ($43 million) apart from enhancing future business deals in India.

The UK company specialises in a broad range of heavy steel forgings and steel castings as well as stocking steel ingot and bar and supplies these to key industries such as defence, nuclear, oil and gas exploration, power generation, marine and construction.

According to experts, India would require nearly 700-800 large nuclear forgings weighing 100,000 tonnes for its civilian nuclear plant expansion plan in the next 20 to 25 years.

Even though India's atomic and space research programmes are nearly 40-50 years old, the technology denial regime against it by the west have kept it back from being able to make large open die steel forgings for the nuclear industry or large steel castings although India is a major player in the steel industry.

In a nuclear plant, the reactor pressure vessels requie very large and high integrity steel forgings.

Currently the global manufacturing capacity of nuclear forgings is less than half the expected demand and with more countries embracing nuclear energy as a primary source of clean power this shortfall will be more acute and by manufacturing the forgings locally, India will save on precious foreign exchange.

Sheffield Forgemasters was established in 1983 from the merger of Firth Brown  and British Steel's River Don Works Forging operations, though the company can trace its heritage back to the start of the steel industry in Sheffield in the 1700s.

The company currently has the capacity for pouring casting Europe's largest single ingot of 570 tonnes. The two forging presses in use can exert a pressure of 2,500 tonnes and 10000 tonnes on a billet of steel.