POWER ECONOMY - - THE MOST IMPORTANT PROBLEM IN NATIONAL ECONOMY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600310186-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 15, 2011
• Sequence Number: 186
• Publication Date: May 15, 1950
• Content Type: REPORT

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CLASSIFICATION CpNFTDEICTIAL CnNFia~~i T~
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORT
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
COUNTRY .USSR
SUBJECT Scientific; Economic - Power economy
HOW
PUBLISHED Monthly periodical
WHERE
PUBLISHED Moscow
DATE
PUBLISHED Jun 1g49
LANGUAGE Russian
iN15 DOCUMENT CO NTAINf INfORYATIOM ATRLCTIN! TN[ NATIONAL D{I[N!{
0[ TN[ UNIT[0 3TAT[! NITNIN TN[ YLANIN{ Of [f IIO NAO[ ACT {0
V. 3. C.. ]I ANO ]i. A! AY LNOL D. ITf iRAN]YI!]ION OR TNl R[Y[LATION
Oi Il5 CO MTLNTS IN AMT YAN N[R TO AM YNAY TNO RI[ID ILRlON 1] IRO?
NIfIT[0 {Y LAM. R[IROOU DTION 01 TXI] TORY IL IRO NI{IT[D.
Promyshlennaya Energetika, No 6, 194g.
DATE OF
INFORMATION 1949
QATE DIST. /.~ May 1950
N0. OF PAGES 6
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT N0.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
POFJER EOONOMY --ITHE MOST IMPORTANT PROBLEM IN NATIONAL'ECONOMY
(Editorial)
In 1949, the fourth year of the postwar Stalin Five-Year Plan, the Party
and government put before the country new problems connected with raising the
level of all branches of socialist economy, developing new forms of production
and improving the living and cultural conditions of the people.
The 1949 plan places great responsibility for the fulfillment of the plea
upon,enterprises attached to the Ministry of Electric Power Stations. This
includes the following increases over 1948: 15 percent in electric power, 58
percent in the volume .of construction and installation work; 47 percent in new-
ly installed turbogenerator capacity, 57 percent in new boilers, and 61 percent
in new power ?transmission lines.
The fulfillment of the socialist obligations entered into in 1949 by
workers, engineers, and technicians in all branches of national economy depends
on the successful efforts of Soviet power engineers. But industrial workers
must do their part by efficient utilization of the power supplied.
In the first quarter of 194g, the plan for supplying and allotting power
Lo iiiiiust>?y was 100.6 pcrceat fulfilled. During this period, industrial enter-
prises effected economies in the use of electric power amounting to 243,500,000
ing, electrolysis and electrothermics, welding, electrification of transportation,
Quantitative and qualitative changes in socialist econa~my make improvement
kilowatt-hours and 93,153 megacalories in thermal energy.
STATE
ARMY
NSRB
FBI
DISTRIBUTION
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The 1.849 7,l~ins for saving power, based on computations of the main branches
of industry, divide the total annual saving required as follows: 33 percent
for the metallurgical industry; 30 percent for the metal-working and machine-
building industry, and 11 percent for the chemical industry.
Economies can be effected in the metallurgical industry by the following
rretr,ods: improvement of technological processes; better timing and preparation
of furnace charges; reduction of heat losses by improved insulation; closer
adherence to temperature conditions; speed-up in smelting; elimination of un-
productive waste of water, compressed air, etc. Of particular importance is
the wide use of automatic technological processes and self-regulating mechanisms.
I:, the machine-?buil.ding industry, the basic requirements for economy in the
use of electric power are: automatizing production; utilizing multiple-cutting
tools and multipo~iticn devices; converting from free forging to stamping; com-
bining operations; speeding up cutting procedures; introducing mass-production
met2,ods and new methods of electric welding, including ultrashort electric-arc
welding; reducing idling time and compressed-air losses, etc. The total savings
required may be .:xpressed by the following percentages: 10.5 percent by auto-
nuitization; 17 percent by improving technological methods; 4 percent by mass
production methods; 8.1F percent by reducing losses of water and compressed air;
12 percent by efficient. use of equipment; 6.5 percettt by utilizing new electric
we'_din~ processes; 5.2 percent by combining operations; and 4.6 percent by improv-
ing tt~ennal prvicesses.
Tn the chemical industry, economies may be effected by: increasing the
efficiency of technological processes; utilizing the heat of chemical reactions;
improving equipment -- in particular, introducing new, improved electrolyzers
made by Soviet engineers to replace the uneconomical non-Soviet Siemen-Biliter
X-2 and X-3 types; raising the temperature of electrolytes; closer adherence
to temp~rattire conditions; increased concentration of evaporated alkalis; pro-
per maintenance of regenerative turbines; efficient use of cooling water; intro-
duction of netir economical designs for the electric heating of press molds; use
cf high-frequency currents for heating the press materials, etc.
Data from audit repcrts for 194a and the first quarter of 1949 prove the
cer~?ectness of ttrese statements and show the existence of enormous reserves in
this field.
Gains in power economy can be substantiated only by comparing actual con-
stunption with average nouns, worked out on the basis of the existing level of
p_oduction technique, efficient use of equipment, and progressive operating
methods. Power economies obtained on the basis of excessive norms show an un-
critical approach to the problem of establishing proper standards. Moreover,
they do not encourage greater activity in economizing on present resources.
The Gossnab~Sta.te Supply Commission~of the USSR found it necessary to
revise nouns for specific electric power consumption for types of production
requiring large tanounts of power. As a result, since 1 April 1949, new reduced
norms t,ave been put into effect which have stimulated efforts to economize on
power. In the course of revision, it was established that the specific norms
were excessive and did not reflect the present technical level of production.
In fact, they impeded the adoption of successful methods for reducing the con-
sumption of electricity. This shows that approved standards cannot be estab-
lashed permanently, but are variable quantities which must be systematically
revised i.n accordance with new operating methods and modern technical levels,
faking into account both increases in production and changes in types of pro-
ducts.
CONFIDENTIAL,
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f?oti~ever, this reduction i.n electric power norms for specific production
.is only a beginning. It is necessary to supplement and enlarge this begin-
ninC and to conduct universal revisions of norms not only by Gossnab but by
the i.ndutrial ministries as well. Reports on norms of specific electric con-
sumption for 1948 and the first, quarter of 1948 show that many norms approved
by the ministries and departments cannot be considered efficient or progressive.
Numerous instances prove the ,justice of this position and sharply underline the
disadvantages r+f setting standards for individual industrial ministries.
In 194, the Ministry of Metallurgical Industry retained the old norms for
the Lebya%he Ore Administration, although savings of over 20 percent had been
made during 9 months of 1948 (first quarter, 23.2 percent; second quarter,
2i+.6 percent; third quarter 21.8 percent; fourth quarter, 10.8 percent). As a
r~-:;ult of these excessive norms, savings were still fictitiously high. In Jan-
uary of tl;is year, they amounted to 10.7 percent and in February to 15.05 per-
cent.
In 19~+9, the Alapayevsk Ore Administration increased its norm from 14 to
17 kilo~ratt-hours per ton, in spite of the fact that the enterprise operated
tl~e whole previous year at a lower norm and only in December exceeded this norm
because of a decrease in ore extraction. In reality, the norm should have been
reduced by 15 or 20 percent. This was confirmed by actual specific consumption
this year (February, 12.06 kilowatt-hours per ton).
Zn 1949, at the Andreyev Plant, the norm in force for rolling pipes was
21.0 kilowatt-hours per ton while the actual consumption was 185.7 in January
and 187.7 in February.
As a result of excessive norms, the Pyshma Refractory Material Plant in
t're fourth quarter of 1948 showed a 22.4-percent economy in power. Neverthe-
less, tY,is norm was not reduced in 191+9 and savings for February amounted to
37.2 percent.
In the Kalinin ldechanical Plant of Glavmashtekstil'dotal' of the Ministry
of [.ight Industry. the norm for 1949 was increased 4.7 percent over that of
1948. As a result, the plant shows a high percentage of savings for. 1949: 18
percent in January, 22 in February.
As a consequence of excessive norms, the Nizhne-Dneprovsk Plant for silicate
brick showed savings of more than 50 percent in 1948; the "Svetofor" Plant, 22
percent. Still these norms remained unchanged in 1949. For example, the approved
noun was 40 kilowatt-hours per 1,000 pieces, while the actual consumption was 24
kilowatt-hours per 1,000.
In 1948, the norm for the Dneprodzerzhinsk Concrete Plant was approximately
40 percent +.oo high, yet it was retained in 1949. In spite of a progressive
average specific consumption of 6.5 kilowatt-hours per ton, tl:~ norm for slag
brick and ferroconcrete for 1949 remained at its earlier level of 10.9 kilowatt-
hours per ton.
In the Verkhne-Serginskiy Machine-Building Plant of the Ministry~of the
Petroleum Industry the basic norm for 1948 was increased for no good reason from
47 to 50 kilowatt-hours per 1,000 rubles of production. Hence, the factory
regularly showed a fictitious saving, amounting to 22.3 percent for 1948, 16.2
for January 1949, and 24.8 for February.
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As early as 1948, the Kaganovich Plant, Ministry of Machine and Instru-
ment Building, carried out a number of measures to save power and attained a
specific consumption of electric power for the SPVK automatic machine of 1,180
kilowatt-hours, when the norm was 1,550. However, the ministry did not study
the changes made in the plant and mechanically retained the old norm although
It was clear that it did not coincide with the new operating conditions.
In 1949, the Ministry of Construction and Road-Machinery Building auth-
orized the Kovrov Exce??ation Plant to use a completely baseless norm which
was double the actual specific consumption for January and February of this
year. The following April, only after instructions from the State Inspecto-
rate for Industrial Power Engineering and Power Control (Gosenergonadzora) did
the Ministry correct its error and approve a new norm of 230 instead of 520
kilowatt-hours per 1,000 rubles.
The norms for electric power consumption authorized by the Ministry of
the Shipbuilding Industry for one plant provided for the following "savings"
of energy: 23.4 Percent in January and 26 in February. At present, the con-
sumption of elec+.ri: power is standardized for this enterprise on the basis
of 1,000 rubles although it is possible to establish the norm on the basis of
a natural unit of production.
The examples cited demonstrate: (1) that certain ministries are ;rot free
from an antistate, departmental approach to preparing and authorizing norms for
specific electric power consumption and, (2) that control organs, especially
plant inspectors of power sales, are still not keeping track of consumption,
and have too indulgent an attitude toward excessive norms.
Following the example set by Gossnab in revising its nomenclature, the
existing norms approved by ministries and departments must be revised.
Tk:ose who seek to insure themselves by using excessive norms to show sav-
ings without effort must be exposed. The fight must be redoubled against mis-
appropriators of power and those who consume more power thrn the authorized
standards permit. It is not possible to tolerate a situation in which indi-
vidual enterprises, far from doing their part in economizing, regularly exceed
the approved norms of specific consumption. Let us cite a few pertinent examples.
The Ministry of Heavy Machine Building, in introducing a number of organi-
zationa.~ and technical measures at enterprises supplied by the Mosenergo net-
work, was obliged to ensure a 5-percent reduction of electric power consumption.
On the whole, all the enterprises more than fulfilled the requirements and the
actual saving, during 1948, in the ministry amounted to 6.1 percent. However,
in 1948, the Venyukov Armature Plant of this ministry, instead of economizing,
was permitted an overconsumption of power amounting to 3.5 percent in July; 7.8
in Aug~ist; 7.1 in Sel.te:nter; 5.5 in November; 3.6 in December; and 3.3 in .Tanu-
ary 1949. This excess was due chiefly to inefficient operation of steel-smelt-
ing furnaces because of poor organization In preparing furnace charges, the
inadmissibly long time taken for charging, and insufficient insulation of the
furnaces (the external temperature of the walls reaching 130 to 140 dzgraes
centigrade),
These deficiencies could be eliminated without special work or great ex-
pense by the manpower an~i facilities of the plant itself. But the Plant Adminis-
tration and, in particular, Chief Power Engineer N. I. Sigal, became accustomed
to poor work and blamed the cause of the excess consumption on the reduce3 norms.
The indefensibility of this explanation was proved by the plant inspectors for
electric power, who upon investigating the factory on 5 March of this year,
organized a smelting test in which properly prepared Furnace charges took only
28 minutes, as compared with the previous charging time of 50 to 70 minutes.
The indefensibility of blaming the "reduced" norms was also shown by the fact
that in March, under the very same consumption conditions, the plant was able
to save 13,000 kilowatt-hours of electric power consumption.
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The Ministry u; the Textile Industry did not do its full share in saving
pcwer in 1948 with regard to the Moscow group of enterprises, since it per-
mitted consumptioi; of excess electric power which would have sufficed to pro-
cess '' million meters of cotton cloth.
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The Dorokhov group of textile plants showed an overconaumptioii of 148,000
kilo-~ra.tt-hours in 1948. On investigation, it xas established that the causes
of this excess were the low efficiency of the looms, untimely and unsatisfac-
tory equipment repairs, excessive breakage of the warp, poor lubrication and
cleaning of machinery, etc.
In 10 months of 1948, the Likin Spinning and Weaving Mill showed an excess
consumption of 731,000 kilowatt-hours. As a result of measures instituted in
November and December, the mill not only adapted its production to reduced
norms, but even managed to effect some economies. Nevertheless, in the first
quarter of 1949, the ~nief Directorate for the Moscow Cotton Industry raised
the specific norms 5 percent -- encouraging poor work in the mill -- without
taking into consideration the level reached in the last months of the year.
The Alaverd Copper Smelting Plant, an enormous consumer of electric power,
regularly exceeded the authorized norms because of inefficient technological
processes, poor charging, low electrolyte temperatures, a high percentage of
defective goods, excessive use of power for subsidiary requirements, etc.
Furthermore, from the standpoint of power, the plant carried on inadmissible
operations such as drying sludge by electricity instead of using steam driers.
Asa result of such wasteful practices, the plant showed an overconsumption
of 1,390,000 kilowatt-hours in 1948 and 675,000 in the first quarter of 1949?
Unfortunately, A. M. Sarkisyan, the plant director, P.. L. Feofanov, chief
power engineer, and M. N. Sarukhanyan, director of the Armored' Trust, have
as yet taken no decisive steps to stop this wasteful consumption nor have
they carried out the provisions of the Act of 15 March 1949 on plant electric-
power inspection. Even the ministry did not pay much attention to inspections,
although the act was duly dispatched by the Deputy Minister of the Metallurgical
Industry, I. V.-Arkhipov,
The Azneft' enterprises regularly wasted power. The following trusts per-
mitted particularly large excesses: Azizbekovneft' (manager, Mazanov); Molo-
tovneft' (manager, Madera); Ordzhonikidze-neft' (manager, Astratsaturov). This
overconsumption is due to the lag in converting small-output compressor wells
to deep-pump operation, the poor system of supplying compressed air from the
compressor station to the air distributors, air leakages because of poor her-
metic sealing, great losses in high- and low-voltage lines because of ineffi-
cient methods and the distance between transformer substations and the load
center. Power is also wasted by heating the compressed air entering the wells
in electric instesd of gas furnaces. Tn an industry which has such large stocks
of gas fuel, this is a wasteful practice from every viewpoint.
Beside the above-mentioned causes of waste, there is another factor contri-
h?ting to deficiencies in power supply, namely, the unsatisfactory state of the
power industry, in particular, the lack of reliable protective relays.
As a reealt of their neglect of economy and inade~,iate utilization of
equipment, the enterprises of the Azneft' Combine (director, Karasev; chief
power engineer, Rasul Zade) waste8 92,133,000 kilowatt-hours in 1948 and about
18 million in the first quarter oi' 1949.
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By wtsging a continuous struggle to eliminate wasteful practices and to
see that each kilowatt-hour of electric power and kilogram of steam are
accounted for, and by introducing progressive standards, workers in power
stations, in industry, and in transport activities can ensure early fulfill-
trent of the postwar Stalin Five-Year Plan with a mit.imum expenditure ni power
resources. The main responsibility of industrial workers, at present, is to
make full use of valuable experience in Lhis connection. This will permit
t?he attainment of new levels of efficiency in the utilization of electric power
and mobilization of new power reserves, keeping in mind that power economy is
the iaost important task in the national economy.
CONFIDENT]'AL
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