A tour of Indian industrial companies

For Dan Stout, Warren Curd, and Steve Ployhar—members of the Central Engineering & Plant Support (CEP) Department—and for Ken Blackler and Robert Shaw of the Assembly and Operation (AOP) Division, preparing for preliminary design for portions of the cooling water system meant taking an extensive trip to India.

The aim of this mission, which lasted the entire week of 30 November, was to gauge the interest of Indian engineering and construction companies in bidding on ITER assembly and commissioning work, and to become familiar with their experience and capabilities.

The first stop on this journey was Mumbai. The team met with representatives of the India Domestic Agency responsible for manufacturing cooling water system components, and with members of the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL). The meetings focused on technical and scope issues related to an upcoming Procurement Arrangement, due to be signed in April 2010.

In Mumbai, they also visited the engineering offices of IOT Infrastructure & Energy Services Ltd. and toured an oil terminal facility that they designed located at Navghar, a one-hour ride north.

At Yamuna, near Pune (some 150 kilometres south-east of Mumbai) the team visited the new headquarters of Kirloskar Brothers Ltd, which has received a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building certification at the highest level (Platinum). The team met with representatives of Kirloskar as well as suppliers and consultants, including Paharpur (a maker of cooling towers) and Tranter (which designs and manufactures heat exchangers.) A tour of the Kirloskar Chillers manufacturing facility followed the meeting.

The team flew on to Chennai on the eastern coast of the country to visit the offices of the Engineering Construction & Contracts Division of Larsen & Toubro Limited, the largest engineering and construction firm in India. L&T has built many of the nation's landmark projects, including Units 1 & 2 of the Kaiga Nuclear Power Station and the Baha'i Lotus Temple in New Delhi.

The mission ended 2,000 kilometres north of Chennai in New Delhi, where ITER personnel met with representatives of PL Engineering, part of another large engineering and construction company, the Punj Lloyd Group. PL Engineering has expertise in many different industries, including petrochemical, automotive and aerospace. It also built cooling water systems for the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station Units 3 and 4.

In addition to being considerate and generous hosts, all the companies visited on this mission expressed interest in ITER and a willingness to support the project and ensure its success.