This paper investigates the vibration characteristics of steam generator (SG) U-tubes with defect. The operating SG shell-side flow field conditions for determining the fluidelastic instability parameters such as added mass are obtained from three-dimensional SG flow calculation. Modal analyses are performed for the U-tubes either with axial or circumferential flaw with different sizes. Special emphases are on the effects of flaw orientation and size on the modal and instability characteristics of tubes, which are expressed in terms of the natural frequency, corresponding mode shape and stability ratio. Also, addressed is the effect of the internal pressure on the vibration characteristics of the tube.