Evening star., 1952-01-27
AIunainunn-
Here's Why America
Lacks VitoI Metal
BY chorIes ]. Yorbroush

By Chorles ]. yorbrough
Like the man so averse to exercise
that he lies quietly until the inclina-
ton passes, the Nations innocent by
stander last week decided to drop the
aluminium supply puzzle.
This was the kind Of thing which
caused him to throw up his hands:
/. The United States - worlds
greatest producer of the metal -
arranges to borrow $4,000 tons from
Britain, which gets the aluminium
from neighbor Canada.
2. The Air Force. only recently
wailing for more aircraft, agrees to
turn over more than million pounds
of aluminium to the automobile In
dustry.
Well might the public be perplexed.
From the Pentagon, however. from
the National Production Administra-
tion and the Federal Power Commits
sion, came few Of the key pieces
in the puzzle.
Power Supply Problem
While the United States abounds In
raw aluminium (Arkansas Is virtually
made of it, the electric power re-
quired to manufacture it remains the
basic problem.
In the early days Of World War
1.-THE days when speed Of produc-
ton outranked cost and the Nation
called to its housewives to turn in old
pots and pans for aircraft metal-the
location of aluminium plants depend
ed only on proximity to cheap power.
That is one reason why the upper
Tennessee Valley was chosen by Alcoa
for its huge factory.
Today, giving the Korean war only
half glance, cost Of production is
top priority.
The Federal Power Commission
estimates that power to aluminium
plantS-if figured on the residential
consumer cost basis-would be, and
is prohibitive. It requires about 49,
900 kilowatt hours of electricity to
produce one ton of aluminium. BY
comparison, the average residence
uses but 1000 kilowatt hours in
year.
Because Of the cost, huge plants
which poured out aircraft skin by the
mile during World War II have been
closed. One NPA authority ventured
the opinion that had the plants
remained in normal operation for
one year for stockpiling, the need
of the British loan would never
have been felt.
Congress Dollies
Another blamed a lethargic Con-
gress for allowing Britain to step
in, sign a contract with Canada
for aluminium and pull the supply rug
out from under the United States.
1--WE just took too long to make up
our minds" he snapped bitterly.
The Air Force ruefully points to
q chopped budget for explanation
of it's surplus aluminium supply
and its bounty to the productions
harried automobile makers.
Last summer, when drought in the
great Northwest thinned cheap water
power to a trickle and cut aluminium
production, the Air Force became
concerned and began gathering sup
plies. The supply was based on an
optimistic appropriations request.
When Congress whitfield the request,
the Air Force found itself aluminum-
rich and money poor.
It required a revision of produc-
ton schedules for aircraft-a cut
back which won't begin to get well
until late this spring. ss
BY that time. aluminium plants
now abuilding and enlarging in areas
close to cheap power. will begin to
fill the gaps.
Southwest Enters Picture
In the absence of cheap water
power electricity. new plants spring.
ing up in the Southwest. particularly
in Texas, are experimenting success
fully with natural gas and coal, the
power commission reports. Addi-
tions are currently being built on six
of the country's big plants and six
new ones are under construction.
But these have their problems. too.
Time-and lots Of its needed to
build factory equipment, particularly
the huge turbo- generators. NPA has
a high-geared program in operation
seeking ways Of speeding introduce
ton Of the new plants into the
supply system by finding interim
power at cheap rates. The CONVEX
sion can come later.
But the mourning is still audible
at NPA over Congress failure to
recognize and authorize the stock
piling need in 1947.
Even louder is its lament when it
recalls how the Canadian contract
offer languished from August to Oc-
tober-and then slipped to Britain.