Currently, nuclear energy makes up approximately 10% of the worlds electric power generation, with global demand showing no signs of slowing down. In fact, the figures are rising as people search for ways to preserve finite fossil fuels, reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and keep up with the rapid population growth and need for mass power consumption all over the world.
Fine Tubes, a manufacturer of precision metal tubes and a key player in the nuclear industry for more than 75 years, is a supplier of quality metal tubing for the nuclear industry. The company has seen orders for its safety-critical nuclear tubes increase in number across the international nuclear sector. Customers in the EU, US, Canada, India, and China are seeking high quality, precision products that have been engineered to improve the performance of nuclear power plants while delivering tangible cost efficiencies for both new-builds and maintenance projects.
Along with its US-based partner, Superior Tube, Fine Tubes has supplied tubing for many of the worlds most significant energy projects, from the Manhattan Project in 1940 to supplying cooling tubes for the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in 2008, as well as the Gemasolar thermosolar plant in Spain.
Fine Tubes and Superior Tube are highly integrated tube mills that process a range of specialty alloys. These include high-performance stainless steel, titanium, zirconium, and nickel alloys with the properties to withstand extreme heat, pressure, and corrosion resistance. These properties are ideal for critical nuclear fuel tubes in nuclear power plants in which the tubes operate in temperatures of 650°C (1020°F) without fail, for five years, non-stop. The safety-critical tubes are custom-engineered down to sizes as small as 0.15mm (0.006) outer diameter to meet exacting customer specifications.
Courtesy of AMETEK Inc. & Fine Tubes.