Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989, September 26, 1962, Image 20

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Medford mail tribune., September 26, 1962, Image 20

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Newspaper Page TextJQ g WEDNESDAY. SEPTEMBER 26. 1962 MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE. MEDFOBD. OREGON - . Russians Make Important Advances in Hydro-Power, Transmission (Editor's nole: Howard Mor gan, former Oregon public utilities commissioner and now on the Federal Power Commission, recently accom panied Secretary of the In terior Stewart Udall and oth er members of the Federal Power Commission to Russia. This is the last in a series of articles by Morgan reviewing some of hii impressions while louring Russia.) By HOWARD MORGAN It is in hydro-power (about 20 to 25 per cent of their ca pacity) and in extra-high-voltage and integrated transmis sion systems that the Russians have made important ad vances, and this is what we went to see and learn about. Russia has several large rivers that dwarf the Colum bia in size and power. On the Volga we saw the dams at Stavropol, 2.3 million kw (compared to 1.9 million kw at Grand Coulee) and Volgo grad, 2.5 million kw. These dams, temporarily the largest in the world, with separate concrete powerhouses and spillway sections a kilometer long apiece, are built on clay, not on rock, and the concrete structur es were design ed to s e 1 1 1 e about 40 centi meters (20 inches or so) into the clay after construction and during operation. They did so with no mis alignment or other mishap. Our engineers were seen slow ly shaking their heads over this. Someone commented that Russians now build dams the way they used to fly air planes: the way to get off the ground is to open the throttle and pull back on the stick, and whether anything goes wrong or not, they've learned something for next time. Delay Ii Minimum Each of the Volga dams has not one but two exception ally large locks, side by side, so that delay of the river traf fic, which is very heavy, can be kept to a minimum. At Bratsk, 200 miles north on the Angara from its origin at Lake Baikal, we saw what will presently become the world's largest dam at 4.5 to 5 million kw. It is now about two-thirds complete, already has 200 feet of water behind the dam (eventually it will have 350 feet or so) and is gen- School News McLoughlin Jr. High Edited by Nancy Edmonds, Plxia Graham, Dorothy Min (hall, and Jon Rods Enrollment figures have been announced by Principal Berl Cox. McLoughlin's total enrollment is 1,184. Ninth graders total 410. The eighth grade is the smallest class with 384, and seventh grade total is 390. Ten new teachers have joined the McLoughlin facul ty this year. They are Ken Oathimer, English; Jack Sut ton and Mrs. Nancy Altenho fen, history; Clifford Wil Hams, arithmetic; Ed Dcm mer, geography and arithme tic; William Anderson, sci ence; Mrs. Marjorie Rafaclly, typing; Michael Johnson, mu sic; Mrs. Sandra Dcnman, homcmaking; and Miss Mar jorie Simonsen, physical edu cation. Mrs. Jean Shepherd, girls' physical education tea cher, has returned to Mc Loughlin after an absence of two years. Primary elections for class officers were held last week. Several candidates were elect ed. Salvador Esquivel will serve as president of the ninth grade with Curt Smith, vice president; Teresa Gard ner, secretary; and Lloyd Clark, treasurer. Eighth graders elected Mark Dippcl, president; Dnn Kime, vice president; Marcia Hale, secretary; and Janice Nash, treasurer. Fred Fowler was elected seventh grade vice president on the first ballot. Final candidates for president arc Doug Esselstyne and Cheryl Giles. Maria Gard ner and Amy Lee arc candi dates for secretary, and Bren da Hanlin and Arnold Wal dron are finalists for licas-urcr. Ninth grade cheer leaders were elected at an assembly last week. Linda Beatty will he yell queen, with Judy Barnum, Pixie Graham, Lin da Dorrell, and Karen Kur ovsky completing the yell squad. Mrs. Nancy Altohofon Is yell leader adviser. Mrs. Sandra Wcller, major ette adviser, has selected seven girls to be McLough lin's majorettes this year. They are Peggy Leaverton, Sharon Mast. Connie Russell, Connie Stakup, Nancy Bo gener. Shirley Lash and Bon nie Chandler, head major ettc. Mc Loughlin's Classroom Teacher's association is head ed by Mrs. Marjorie Votaw this year. Other officers are Mrs. Sherril llarshbargcr, vice president; Mrs. Marjorie Rafaelly. secretary; and Don Littman. treasurer. The group is planning to have a pirnie at TouVelle State park next week. Jack Pfcifer is chair man of the planning commit tee with Mrs. llarshbarKer, Miss Ruth Osbnrn, and Wil Ham Stoughton, committee members. president: Debbie Kelley, sec retary; Dennis Kurovsky, treasurer; and Mike Clark, Red Cross representative. Lee Hartcr's homeroom elected Dennis Fowler, presi dent; Ron Hale, vice presi dent; Steve House!, secretary; and James Westerfield, Red Cross representative. Homeroom officers in Mrs. Dorothy Sutter's room are Dennis Mcllum, president; Donna Sullivan, vice presi dent; Connie Linville, secre tary; Don Wicker, treasurer; Preston Wheaton, sergeant-alarms; and Julie Hoxworlh, Red Cross representative. Mrs. Ruby Hiatts room elected Janet Kent, president; Pete Thanos, vice president; Terry McLean, secretary; Marilyn James, treasurer; and Jay Beach, Red Cross representative. Officers in Mrs. Sherril Harshbarger's homeroom are Salvador Esquivel, president; Clint Lane, vice president; Ben Taylor, secretary; Pete Bogart, treasurer; ani Jerry Halfhill, Red Cross represen tative. Gordon Morris' homeroom elected Lloyd Clark, presi dent; Karen Kurovsky. vice president; and Sherry Borden, secretary. Officers In Clifford Wil liams' room are Greg Hart, president; Crystal Wynter, vice president; Dick Orr, sec retary; Jennie Bennett, treas urer; and Bill Frcdenbcrg. Red Cross representative. erating power with A of what will eventually be 20 genera tors. These generators, and the turbines which drive them, are the largest in the world and especially designed for this dam by L. A. Artemov, an English-speaking engineer now in his sixties who spent several years in America working on Lend-lease during the war, has many friends here, and is widely respected in the electrical world. He la in charge of all hydro turbine and generator designs in Russia. Incidentally, as a young man he built the first hydro plant in Russia, begin ning in 1922. St Being Installed We were able to see some of these turbines and genera tors being installed. The larg est in the U.S. are at Niagara and have a capacity of 150,000 kw. Those at Bratsk are of 250,000 kw capacity. That means more than 300,000 horsepower is developed by a single turbine on a single shaft. At Krasnoyarsk, 200 miles west from Bratsk on the Yen isei, is a dam we did not visit because construction is just now getting under way. This dam, when completed, will take the title of "biggest" away from Bratsk. It will gen erate 6 million-plus kilowatts. Its equipment, also designed by Mr, Artemov but not yet built, will produce 500,000 kw per generator, or more than 600,000 horsepower per tur bine. The shafts necessary to take such power are too big to forge into a single piece, so they are made of slabs of foot-thick steel, which are rolled into partial cylinders, welded lengthwise into tubes, heated in soaking pits to re lieve welding stresses, and then machined to size-something over eight feel in out side diameter and about six feet inside diameter. The de sign and construction of these shafts is a real engineering achievement by itself. Development Planned It is planned that both the Angara and the Yenisei, as well as a number of other Si berian rivers, will be fully de veloped from headwaters to their mouths on the Arctic in the next several years, some of the dams being larger than these I have mentioned, and some smaller. But the real giant, one planned for construction be ginning ten or twelve years from now, is on the Lena quite near its delta on the Arctic. Preliminary engineer ing studies, we were told, yield the outstanding predic tion of from 20 to 22 million kw to be generated by this single dam! It is expected to electrify the entire Pacific Coast of Siberia. The secret of getting power from such remote regions to the centers of industrial pro duction involves the thorny problem of very long-distance transmission without uneco nomic line-loss. So far as I can determine the longest lines in the U. S. are no more than 225 miles from point of generation to load centers. The distances involved in moving Siberian power to load centers are in excess of 1,500 miles. This accounts for the strenuous research and construction the Russians have been doing in the extra-high-voltage field, for in that very difficult technological field lies the answer to the problem. Heaviest Lines The heaviest lines actually constructed in this country are at 345,000 volts (345 kv) and there are not many of them. The Russians have for some years been operating 500 kv lines as long as 800 miles, from Kribyshev to Moscow and from Volgograd to Mos cow. In addition, a 500 kv line is in operation from Irkutsk to Bratsk, Is being extended from Bratsk to Krasnoyarsk, and before that dam is com plete will be extended clear across central Asia to the Ural Mountain area. Work is now going on which will eventually boost some or all of these lines to 750 kv and ultimately to 1,000 kv-one million volts. All this in alternating current. Even more challenging, and holding out the promise of even more economies, is di rect current, and here too the Russians have heavy lines eventually planned for 800 kv -in operation from Volgograd to the Don River basin indus trial area. We saw all this extra-high-voltage research and construction, including the world's largest DC laboratory at Moscow, and found it all impressive. Shown Control Center Finally we were shown the control center in Moscow where, In a single room, all of the power generated and con sumed in European Russia, ex cept for two minor districts which are now being hooked up, is dispatched under com puterized control on a single interconnected grid. We have two such intercon nected grids in the U.S., the Northwest power pool (main ly Bonneville) and the TVA, each controlling about 12 mil lion kw. In the Russian pool is almost 55 per cent of the pow er generated in the entire na-tion-about 39 million kw. Eventually - in only a few years - this power grid will extend clear to Siberia and will contain virtually all of Russia's national capacity un der centralized, automated control. The advantages and economics of this arrange ment are very large, and make Russian power produc tion capacity significantly closer to ours than the current production figures indicate. Need To Increase Pace It seems safe to say that this will be even more true in the future than it is now, un less we increase our pace in this vital area. It is, of course, much more difficult for us to achieve integration than for the Russians, because our power systems are under di verse ownership; but in Swe den, which we also visited. we learned that the entire na tional electric capacity there is in a single integrated pool, despite the fact that it is about evenly divided between public and private ownership. This was accomplished, we were told, without doing vio lence to any ownership rights. Perhaps the Swedish system is one we might study with profit. To sum up is perhaps to be labor the obvious. We have been challenged by the Soviet Union to an energy race and, like it or not, we are in that race. Because energy-electrical energy-is the heart of any industrial system, the outcome of this race may determine which nation will eventually command the largest and most productive industrial plant in the world. . And it -hardly needs to be said that whoever possesses the world's greatest industrial capacity can and will use that capacity to exert economic, political and military leader ship in the decades to come. Natural Resource Our adversaries in this con test -the Russian people- are intelligent, determined, well organized, and have' increas ingly excellent training and education at their disposal, in addition to abundant natural resources. If one can judge from the available evidence, it will take a great effort for either country to win this race. But the main fact for Americans to grasp at this point is that it is possible for either country-including our own-to lose the race with comparative ease. A peaceful energy race can produce a better life for Americans, Russians and ev eryone else and is certainly preferable to some of the oth er contests we could get into. But it is important to win such a contest, and if we are to do that we need to step up our pace sharply and keep it stepped up. Those who argue otherwise, in my opinion, are deluding themselves. True, they have often done this be fore without fatal results. But fatal-certainly fateful-results are not only possible here, they are being planned by people who have shown they know how to carry out plans. This is too important a mat ter for delusions. The safe thing for us to do is to get going and keep going. Convenient Credit We give "SIH" Green Stamp! 57tAlftA COLUMBIAN OPTICAL CO. Medford Shopping- Cnttr 772-9990 casual ihoppinf with convenient parking. "Drs. Omar J. Nolai and William Hodion Htrtpioinir ELECTRIC RANGE FOR AUTOMATIC COOKING Automatic Rota-Grill Rotisserie Glass Oven Door Automatic Oven Timer with Minute Minder Removable Oven Door -for easier cleaning Pushbutton Control no guesswork 00 With Trade i Homeroom officers rlcctrd In Charles Jones' homeroom are Steve Offord, president; Teresa Rowbotham, vice pres ident; Carolyn Corbltt, secre tary; Louis Barker, treasurer; and Peggy Singler, Red Cross representative. Mrs. Marvel Yung's home room elected Bob Altvatter, president; Rowena Payne, vice president; Vera Harper, secretary; Roger Jones, treas urer; Dcanna Darling, librar ian; and Michael Smith, Red Cross representative. Officers" for Vern Craft's homeronfa are Teresa Allen, president; Pat Hoffman, vice I Fishing Said To Be Poor in Forest Klamath Falls - Campers , on the Wincma national for est are finding campgrounds less crowded with the late season, foresters have an nounced. ' Fishing on the Chlloqtiin district has been generally poor, with the exception of the Williamson river. The Sucker Springs Barklcy springs area of Klamath lake is producing some trout, they noti'd. Many hunters arc expected on the forest during the hunt ing season and, according to Doug Shaw, Chcmult district ranger, hunting prospects are excellent. Many deer have also been seen on the district. With the approaching hunt ing season forest officials are asking thai special attention be given to fire prevention. Unless precipitation occurs the fire danger in the forest will be extreme on opening day. Hunters throughout the forest are particularly cau tioned about the use of warm ing fires. Avoid building fires in any material which cannot be readily extinguished, they said. Clean an area tn bare soil around the fire spot and com pletely extinguish every fire before it is left, they stressed. Hunters are also a.skrd to co operate by leaving a clean camp Plans are being marie to cover the forest area with I patrols on the opening week end of hunting season. Forest i officials have indicated that 'fire prevention requirements will be strictly enforced. 4 V- t f ! r . ' - - '''i, ' i 'J l I h i iiemui .,, , I 36 ELECTRIC APPLIANCES i: . . viti' Here's what Mrs. Clifford Brumbcloc of Grants Pass says about electric living , . . Electricity not only helps us live better, it helps us save money, too!" "We rely on electricity to help us whenever we can. I do a lot of sewing and make nearly all the clothes for our two daughters. And my husband is seemingly always building some improvement for our home in his workshop. We find that electric appliances are a big help even in the garden. For the many ways we use our electric service, we feel it's our biggest value." Thousands of other Pacific Power & Light customers, like Mrs. Brumheloe and her family, live better because they make generous and effective use of modern electric service. How about you are you making fuH us of Reddy Kilowatt's helpful service? In the typical U. S home I Reddy works 332 hours per month. In the average Pacfc Pnwerisnrl hom Reddy works 732 hours per month. I 732 KWH I in Mrs. Brumheloe s home Reddy works 1061 hours per month IF Here's how electricity helps Mrs. Brumbeloe and her family: pf Range 13" Water Heater M" Refrigerator Washer lyf Dryer v7t Television) (5 Radio Iron Vacuum Cfeanef 0 Food Muter Bf Furnace Motor Wf Electric Blankets4 5?i Vent Fan W Portable Fan !7f Coffee Maker fjtf Toaster 5? Sandwich GriH M" Waffle Iron Heating Pad R7f Sewing Machine 3 Room Heaters-2 Pj Power Tools-5 tf. Stereo Set M Lighting !?? Worm Wand 13? Electric Garden Hoe Hair Dryer ?J Deep Fryer How many of these appliances work foryotj in your home? Pacific Power & Light Company You Live Better ...Electrically!