Feedwater control systems are used to maintain the steam generator water level within prescribed narrow limits and to provide constant supply of steam during power demand variations. Current feedwater control systems are often found to be unsatisfactory during startup and low power operations. A robust nonlinear estimator-based optimal algebraic control is developed for feedwater control systems to solve the water level tracking problem during power demand variations. It is shown that the proposed control provides an optimal and robust water level tracking with a single automatic controller over the complete range of power operations in the presence of plant uncertainties and noisy measurements.