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CHAPTER IV, SECTION 3
SECTION 3
ELECTRIC POWER GENERATION AND DISTRIBUTION
DISTRIBUTION.
On completion of the roll-up after CASTLE, all power plants at the Proving Ground
had been deactivated except the plant at Elmer.
This plant supplied all power demands for both
Elmer and Fred until 18 October 1955, at which
time increased power demands necessitated the
reactivation of the Fred power plant. Power
demands increased progressively at these two
sites and it became necessary to acquire two
600 KW portable units to augment the generating capacity. One of these units was installed
adjacent to Building 301 on Elmer and was
placed on the line on 5 March 1956. The other
unit was installed adjacent to Building 650 on
Fred and was placed in service on 21 March
1956. Because of the critical power situation on
Fred, three self-contained 150 KW units were
installed as stand-by generators for vital circuits
in case the shutdown of a main power plant
became necessary.
As
temporary
camps
were
established,
power requirements were met by using portable
generators until the existing power plants could
be activated or plants built. The existing plants
were located at sites Yvonne, Ursula, and Nan
in earth-covered, reinforced-concrete structures
that were partially subsurface and designed to
withstand anticipated blast pressures. The power
plants for Gene, Fox, and Tare were set up in
expendable structures that served to house both
power-generating and water distillation units.
Figure 4-17. Submarine Power Cable
Terminal - Elmer
The Ursula power plant was reactivated on
19 September 1955. This plant was used for
both camp andscientific requirements. To meet
power demands, it was necessary to install two
additional units of 150 KW, which increased
the plant capacity to 600 KW.
The Yvonneplant consisted of four 150 KW
units in Building 75, which could be connected
in parallel with two other 150 KW units lo-
cated in the vicinity of Station 1524. These
units combined provided 900 KW, which was
used for both camp andscientific purposes.
As a result of damage incurred during
CASTLE, the prime mover of unit No. 2 in the
NA 500 plant, Nan, had to be surveyed. The
remaining two units were overhauled and were
placed on the line on 9 March 1955. On 5 April,
a 135 KW unit was added to this plant. Power
demands increased and a 122 KW unit was removed from the Fred power plant and installed
in the Nan plant in August 1955. Three other
150 KW generating units were installed adjacent to the plant. Through switch gear, the
camp and scientific load could be carried by
one set of machines or, the loads could be di-
vided for close voltage regulation on scientific
circuits.
Generating capacities at each campsite are
summarized below. At all other sites generators
for meeting scientific requirements were pro-
vided in numbers and capacities as shown in
Tables 4-9, 4-10 and 4-11.
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