Bernard Franks analyses power industry productivity

IN THE 1890s most major towns in Britain had an electric power source either privately or municipally owned. By 1900 it was clear that electricity would be a fundamental source of power.

It was soon realized that in place of the local stations there must be a national standardized system generating at a standard frequency and the 1926 Electricity Supply Act set up a Central Electricity Board and began the building of a national grid.

Following nationalization in 1947, the present system of a Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) bulksupplying 12 local area boards and presided over by an Electricity Council was devised.

Since the 1950s development of electric furnaces, a wide range of electric hand tools and of mechanization and automation has brought a whole range of industries not previously electrified into heavy dependence on electric power.

These include building, steelmaking, postal sorting and office work. The electrification of farming, in particular of mass production of livestock and of the dairy has brought even this, apparently independent industry under its sway.

Other systems of power, oilfiring and gas, are often electrically monitored and controlled and the advent of control computers has completely cemented the reliance of hundreds of industrial processes on the national grid. cal — to produce more power third of New York's electricity with fewer workers on the job. requirements.

Some of the recent developments Scientists also believe that vast which contribute both to amounts of electricity can be increased output and to loss of generated by quite small units if jobs include: • A higher capacity grid Following the recent completion of 7,000 miles of 400,000volt supergrid the experts are considering the problems erecting a million volt transmission system. • Development of bigger generating units In 1948 the individual genera- Here been tors were on average 60 megasets have been put into service which require considerably less manpower per unit for operation.

An example of this reduced manning was given in the electricians' union magazine 'Contact' last year by the late President Leslie Cannon.

*The average manning level for the 50 megawatt stations is in the range of 80 to 120 members of the industrial staff, while for the 2,000 megawatt stations it is of the order of 580 members, which means in effect that the old stations require 160 to 240 men per 100 megawatts of capacity while the new stations are being manned with 29 men per 100 megawatts.' WHY MINDE Millions have been spent on new plant like the atomic power station above with the intention of producing more power with Cannon was not warning or suit. He reaches the live line condemning the elimination of along an insulated glass-fibre inhc In the same article he ladder and becomes charged . "P Slash gower jobs they utilize superconductive magnets. • Use of remote control Monitoring and control of a distribution network from a central control point via telemetry systems has been in use Britain since the 1930s. It has since been developed to a high level with introduction of solid state electronics technology and computers.

The area boards operate a number of advanced computer systems and the CEGB claims to run the most powerful computer • Live-line working The system of carrying out maintenance on overhead highvoltage cables without switching off the supply is being introduced throughout the electricity supply regions and is reckoned to have increased productivity enormously wherever it has been used.

The 'hot-stick' method involves using special long-handled insulated tools from insulated platforms on the pylons.

The -'bare hand' method requires that the worker handles the live cables. Each linesman has to wear a special wire-mesh