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0023711 '~J '~"~. '...--<-~-;;, e~~~:. .- -4- or preparatory stages. One single plant, the Yenesey plant on the river of the same name. will have a capacity of about 6,000,000 kilowatts, Rreater than the total capacity of all the power plants at all the dams ever constructed by the Corps of EnRineers. which now is 5,250,000 kilowatts. Just five Siberian plants will have a combined capacity half again as great as the total hydro capacity of all Federal projects in the United States, taking the Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation, and .TVA together. ' * * * * * * * * * These Soviet achievements have been accomplished during a relatively short spa~ of time, during which the construction program appears to have gathered a momentum which has not yet reached a peak. For instance, in 1956, hydroelectric power capacity was in- creased by 2,000,000 kilowatts, three times the amount placed in operation in 1955. By 1960, a 170 percent increase is planned over the total available iri 1955. The Memoran- dum of the Chairman to members of the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, dated December 20, 1957, has further material on this point. A major feature of Soviet power development is the construction of,a national transmission grid which will bring electricity, generated sometimes at remote hydro sites" to industrial centers of the USSR. The beginnings of this plan have already been accomplished in the recent completion of the two-circuit, 400-kilovolt:, 3-phase alternating current transmission line between the Kuybyshev power plant and the Moscow industrial area. One circuit is 506 miles long, the other, 559 miles. So far United States power operators have had no need to build lines of this length and voltage. One noteworthy Soviet line now under construction will bring Stalingrad power to the Donbas. industrial area, 300 miles to the west. This line will carry ~OO kilovolt direct current to an inverter substation. Building this equipment required Soviet engineers to solve unpre- cedented electro-mechanical problems. * *. * * * * * The Soviet achievement in hydroelectric power is of great economic and political value to the Soviet Union and the cause of world communism. Soviet coal deposits are generally of poor quality and often must be hauled great distances by overburdened rail lines. Many of their thermal plants burn peat fuel. Consequently, Soviet fuel costs are higher, and hydro power plants are of even greater relative value to the economy than in the United States. Since,the same situation is also true in many other parts of the world, the Soviet achievements are of great interest in such areas. These achieve- ments are receiving great stress both in Soviet technical literature and in propaganda aimed at Asian and Middle Eastern countries<; The engineering features are described in detail, and installations have been proudly shown to teams of visiting engineers from countries allover the world, including some from the United States. * * * * * * * INLAND WATERWAYS Soviet achievements in inland waterway development are not as spectacular as in power, which for the time being has been given top priority, but are nevertheless noteworthy. As of 1950, the Soviet Union had about 79,000 miles of navigable inland water- way, compared with 22,500 miles in the United States. ~, * ~, * * * * They have, however, done important work in modernizing and improving the navigability of some of the principal rivers and lakes. Much of this work has been incidental to multiple purpose projects.