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9. Translate the following word combinations and use them in sentences of your own:

gas turbine, iron bar, liquid state, energy distribution, heat power, wind speed, power generation, heat power plant

10. Describe the construction and the operation of a wind-power plant.

LESSON TWENTY-FOUR

NEW SOURCE OF ENERGY AGAIN! Tides and Tidal Power Plants

The main purpose of this article is to give some idea of one more natural source of electric energy and the existing methods, ways and means of its use.

Coal, oil, wind, water and atomic energy — these are fa­miliar sources of power, but what is tidal energy?

The periodic rise and fall of the ocean on a coast line is well known. In the open ocean the changes in level amount to only about 61 cm, or so. On the coasts of continents it is often much greater. At any rate, tides like wind will last for ever.

Utilization of tidal energy has been studied more or less extensively in a number of countries, such as the USSR, the USA, France, Canada, England, and others. The fact is that tidal forces are expected to make considerable contribution if not to present-day, at least to future electricity production. By intercepting ocean or sea water at high tide in a basin and directing it back through turbines at low tide, one could create a kind of a working hydro-electric plant.

Although there are tides along all coasts of all continents, not all places possess the necessary qualities for the installation of an efficient, reliable and economical tidal power plant. The most important features are the amplitude of the tide, the surface area of the basin, and the size of the dam required. The higher the tide, the larger the area of the available basin, and the smaller the dam required, the better the locality. Suitable places can be found, for instance, on the French coast and it is probably there that a big t. e. s. was con­structed.

The Soviet Union's tidal power sources are among the great­est in the world. No wonder that several large tidal power plants are planned here. Kislaya Bay on the Barents Sea was found to be the. very place for the construction of the first experimental t. e. s. At high tide water from the Barents Sea will flow in through an operating turbine, while at low tide the water will be conducted back to the sea through that very turbine, making it work in both directions. Such a turbine makes it possible to use both high and low tides to the best advantage.

The Kislaya Bay station is an experimental project and Its planned capacity is not large. But that is not the principal thing. What is important is the possibility of testing the design of the station under consideration. The results obtained will enable designers to solve the main problems for several other powerful and super powerful tidal plants to go into oper­ation in future. One cannot help mentioning in this connection the Belomorsky project of a t. e. s. which is to have a power capacity greater than that of Bratsk, the biggest hydro-electric station in the world.

Active Words and Expressions

Area (n) район, участок

Coast line береговая линия

Dam (n) плотина

Design (n, v) проект

Enable (v) давать возможность

Level (n) уровень

local­ity (n) местность, район

rise (n) подъем, повышение

tide (n) прилив и отлив

utilization использование