Power system development for service to Hanford plutonium plant

EARLY IN 1943 a number of engineers in the Bonneville Power Administration were informed of a new “mystery load” which was to be added to the BPA system. Later this load became known as the Hanford Engineer Works of the Manhattan District. We, of course, were warned that the new load was one of the war´s top secrets. The product to be made, about which no one seemed to know anything, the location of the plant and its general arrangement, the amount of power to be taken by the plant, the location of the transmission lines which were to supply it, and the additional important fact that the power to be supplied had to have the utmost reliability were subjects which were not to be discussed unless absolutely necessary. It is our feeling that all these secrets were well-kept. For while BPA engineers had the responsibility of arranging their system to provide reliable service to this new load, there were times when we despaired of ever obtaining sufficient general technical information regarding the apparatus to be used by the Hanford Engineer Works to make possible the best co-ordinated system design.