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        2200 w

        [ ?]

        NIVA River of Murmansk Oblast, 21 miles in length, carries the waters

of Lake Imandra to the White Sea at the city of Kandalaksha. It falls

422 feet in that distance, and, having an average flow of 160 cubic

meters per second, presents a tremendous power potential. Three hydro-electric plants have been projected, to produce a total of 1,171,000,000

kilowatt-hours per year. The plant designated as Niva-II, went into

operation in 1934. It has 60,000 kva installed capacity. The construc–

tion of Niva-III, designed for 150,000 kva, was begun in 1938. It was interrupted during the war, when its unfinished structures were used

as emergency hospitals and for other military purposes, but resumed

thereafter. The first plant provided power for the electrical operation

of the railroad from Kandalksha north, and for the mining and process–

ing industries of the peninsula. The second [ ?] is to make possible

a trebling of apatite mining and refining (see article, Apatite) and

the exploitation of titanium deposits, as well as municipal services

in the area.

        Lake Imandra lies in the central portion of a deep depression run–

ning from north to south in the rock-ribbed Kola Peninsula (cf.). This

depr ession resulted from tectonic processes in very ancient geologic

times. To the north it continues as the Kola River Valley and the

long and deep fjord called Kola Bay, while to the south it becomes the

valley of the Niva. Glacial action deepened and widened the original

geologic crevasse and cut out of its sides numerous valleys of varying

size and form. Eventually they filled with water, and thus there came

into being [ ?] a fantastic chain of [ ?] lakes, lying at various levels

and connected by rushing streams.

        A quarter of a century ago this land was desolate and unpopulated

Primeval stillness reigned in the forests surrounding the lakes. The

29 marshy tundra was impassable, and it was only on rare occasion that

a Saami (Lapp) fisherman's boat disturbed the waters. The water power,

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timber and mineral resources were unused and, [ ?] in the latter case,

virtually unknown, and the scant population of the peninsula - some

9,000 persons scattered over an area as large as New York State - eked

out a livelihood by primitive fishing, trapping and, in the tundra, rein–

deer-breeding.

        The post-revolutionary decades have brought remarkable changes,

accompanied by and demanding the use of the power of the river. This

cold, wild and forbidding country has been penetrated, its incalculable

riches opened to exploitation, and mines, factories and entire towns

have been erected. Kirovsk, [ ?] to the east of

the lake at the site of the apatite deposits, had a population of zero

in 1929 and 40,000 a decade later. It had to have power. Monchegorsk,

not founded [?] until 1935, lying on the west shore of the lake, had

30,000 people in four years, and functioning copper-nickel mines and

a refinery. It uses, and will demand more of, the power of the Niva.

The growth of Murmansk itself, far to the north and supplied by its

own hydroelectric development on the Tuloma River, nevertheless creates

additional demands for Niva power to [ ?]

[ ?] haul coal, metal, machinery, lum–

ber, building materials, food, textiles and salt north to that ice-free

port, and carry southward its ever-increasing fish catch and imports.

There being no other means of transport on the peninsula but the electrified railroad , Niva power

provides haulage for all the requirements and production of a population

now in the vicinity of 450,000.

        Water-power is the more important in that coal and oil are lacking

on this otherwise rich peninsula, while, in these northerly latitudes,

timbered-out forests replace themselves very slowly and the peat bogs

are insufficient for its great requirements in electricity. Fortunately,

resources of water-power more than make good these lacks. The Niva is

capable of producing more than 200,000 kva. of energy (the [ ?] installed

capacity of the plants is to exceed this figure so as to assure full

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utilization at all times by substituting a turbine in good repair working order for

one which may go out of order or be in process of overhaul). This is more

than half the average output of the great Soviet plant on the Dnieper,

for the Niva makes good in height of drop what it lacks in volume. As

a cubic meter of water dropping one meter provides 7.5 kilowatts at

lest in modern turbines, each cubic meter of Niva water provides 950

kilowatts by the time it reaches the sea.

        The speed of flow is not uniform along the short course of the

Niva. Where it lives Lake Imandra there is a stretch of rapids with a

50-foot drop. Then, entering a broad bowl-like valley, the Niva broad–

ens very greatly to form an attractive lake, Pin. There follows another

stretch of rapids, with a 112-foot drop, succeeded by a [ ?] quiet

narrow reach called Ples Lake. Then there comes the most sheer and turbu–

lent section, providing a drop of 257 feet, which continues to the mouth

of the river at the White Sea. The three lakes followed by three sec–

tions of rapids explains the decision to utilize the water power at three

plants.

        The mouth of the river, often indundated by 10-foot tides, is the

site of the ancient pioneer settlement of Kandalaksha, which stretches

along both banks. This is another user of Niva power, for its growth

from 4,000 persons in 1929 to 30,000 a decade later, based on the con–

struction of a fish cannery, saw-mill and machine manufacturing plant,

was largely made possible by the building of Niva-II, while further

progress depends upon the completion of [ ?] Niva-III.

        Niva-II was built to utilize the middle series of rapids. Not far

from the station of Pinozero, travelers along the railroad see the

shield-dam of that plant, which backs up a quiet artificial reservoir.

Four huge inclined pipes divert the water down to the generator house,

located far below, virtually at the level of the original base of the

river. Here, again, appearances are deceiving, as the four turbines

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housed in this small structure provide as much energy as do the eight of

Volkhovstroi near Leningrad, the first large plant ever built [ ?]

by the Soviet regime. As with the Dnieper, distance of drop outbalances

a lesser mass of water.

        When operating at full power, water consumption by Niva-II [ ?]

drains the river above it to the bottom. Under these conditions, all

three shields are lowered to block the flow of water out of Lake Pin

into the river, and it follows an artificial diversion canal to the

pipes feeding the plant. The canal, three miles in length, gathers the

full potential of the 112-foot drop. [ ?] The industrial village of

Nivskii came into being during the construction of this plant, [ ?]

[ ?] The plant is named in honor of Sergei Kirov, Soviet leader murdered

in 1934, whose energy accounts in large part for the development of this

far and difficult land.

        The flow of the Niva varies from 700 cubic meters per second in

the Spring to only forty in winter, but regulatory dams now provide a

more or less even flow the year round. An earth dam with concrete spillway

has been built at the source of the river on Lake Imandra, so as to re–

tain the water of flood-time and release it when needed throughout the

year. The dam raises the level of the lake about a yard. As it covers an

area of 386 square miles, this provides an additional layer of a billion

cubic meters of water. Another billion cubic meter reservoir is provided

by a dam on [ ?] the Pirenga River, which carries the waters of

the lake of the same name into Lake Imandra from the west. Further, the

deepening of the Niva at its source makes another half-billion cubic

meters of the waters of Lake Imandra available for power, which former–

ly could not escape over the lip of the river. These measures have made

possible year-round operation of the power plants at virtually full

capacity, whereas the Dnieper Plant, for example , [ ?] reaches its height only in

the few months after the ice breaks in the Spring.

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        [ ?]

        1936 saw the breaking of earth for Niva-III, located less than two

miles from Kandalaksha, along the lowest of the three stretches of rapids.

Originally scheduled for completion in 1942, work on it was interrupted

by the war. Construction was resumed in December, 1944, but went slow–

ly until the end of the war and for some time thereafter, due to war–

caused shortages. [ ?]

However, work [ ?] seems to have gotten into full swing in the sum–

mer of 1946, and completion by 1949 would appear to be a certainty.

This plant is virtually unique in that it is being built underground,

at a depth of 260 feet below the right (west) bank of the river. This

will prevent the water, introduced to the turbines through underground

canals, from freezing, enabling the station to function the year round.

Moreover, as is stated frankly in a Soviet description of the dam: [ ?]

[ ?] "the underground

installations will be entirely safe from enemy aerial attack".

        The building of Niva-III involves [ ?] several distinct construction

projects. In the first place, an earth dam is being thrown across the river [ ?] several miles

below Ples Lake, raising the water level 48 feet. A spillway on the

right bank is to lead to a diversion canal 2 3/4 miles in length. The

first 1 3/4 miles lie underground, beneath a high mountain spur. The

rest, on the surface, will be [ ?] covered over

for protection from frost. From the end of the canal the water will

drop through shafts 260 feet to the underground turbines, located ap–

proximately at sea level, from which it will empty through a two-mile

tunnel 30 feet in diameter.

        Surface operations in Tthe construction of Niva-III involve [ ?] the removal of 700,000 cubic

meters of moraine deposits, 350,000 cubic meters of solid rock, and

the laying of 320,000 cubic meters of fill. Mining and tunneling opera–

tions involve the removal of 515,000 cubic meters of rock and the laying

of 125,000 cubic meters of reinforced concrete. 2,700 tons of steel fab–



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rication is to be erected. The overall cost was estimated at 200,000,000

pre-World War II rubles, perhaps $40,000,000.

        Construction was undertaken simultaneously at three points, the dam,

the below Lake Ples, the [ ?] sea-level tunnel, and the [ ?] power

house. A new suburb of Kandalaksha has arisen in connection therewith

at the site of the power house. Construction, which elsewhere in the USSR

often involves a combination of machinery and hand labor, here was entire–

ly mechanized, due to the lack of local labor supply and the great costs

of hauling [ ?] all necessities of life hundreds of miles from the south.

The diversion canal - both tunnel and open cut - was built before the

war, the dam afterward. Power shovels were used to remove the moraine

deposits, and explosives and tunnelling for the underlying gneiss.

Construction of the sea-level tunnel also proceeded simultaneously from

both ends: the coast and the base of the shaft where the power house is

to be located.

        The power house site was described during construction as resembling

nothing so much as an over-size mine, with the typical pit-head installa–

tions, but for the fact that the shafts are of unusually large dimensions.

One, through which the enormously heavy and bulky turbines and genera–

tors are to be lowered into place, measures 20 by 36 feet. A second, to

carry the high-tension lines to the surface, measures by 19 by 14. There

is also a third, emergency shaft, identical with the [ ?] second. Fur–

ther south, closer to the sea, is a huge 20' by 20' air shaft for the

underground installations. This extraordinarily large [ ?] outlet to

the open air is necessary to prevent sharp variations in air pressure

at the power house. Otherwise, the switching on of any of the enormous

turbines, releasing an enormous mass of water into the sea-level tunnel

at high speed, would greatly compress the available air and [ ?] cause

a rise in its pressure. Similarly, the shutting off of a turbine would

result in a great expansion of the available air and a drop in pressure.

These changes would have a negative effect upon the functioning of the

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turbines.

        The shafts and tunnels described in the foregoing paragraphs were

built before the outbreak of World War II. Remaining to be sunk were

the intake shafts from the diversion canal to the power house. Other

work [ ?] completed before the war in–

cluded the shifting of the Murmansk railroad main line right-of-way

from the immediate bank of the river, where the spillway dam was to be

erected. A beginning was also made in the construction of the 50-foot

earth dam, although that, [ ?]

remained to be completed after the war. Likewise, the power installa–

tions themselves had not yet been manufactured. The completion of Niva-II

will make Kandalaksha a rival to Kirovsk and to Murmansk itself as a

northern industrial center. An aluminum plant is being erected to use

Imandra nepheline, and an apatite refinery to make super-phosphate ferti–

lizer. Other, unspecified, chemical plants are also to be erected, and

the lumber industry [ ?] is to be electrically powered.

        Construction of Niva-I (the plants are numbered from the source of

the river), the smalle st of the three plants, is to begin after 1950.

The Niva network is also being linked into a single grid with that of

the [ ?] older [ ?] and smaller Tuloma plant, the world's

most northerly hydroelectric development, that is now the sole so urce

of power for the city of Murmansk.

       

William Mandel