PWR SURGE CAUSES ATC RADAR FAILURE.

Narrative

AT XA00 AM THE TWR EXPERIENCED A MINOR PWR FLUCTUATION( OR 'BUMP'). THE TWR EMER GENERATOR AUTOMATICALLY ACTIVATED; ALTHOUGH COMMERCIAL PWR WAS ALMOST IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE. THE ASR-9 WAS KNOCKED OTS. ACTUALLY; THE ASR-9 ANTENNA CONTINUED TURNING WITHOUT INTERRUPTION; BUT THE RADAR DISPLAYS IN THE TWR AND TRACON RECEIVED ABSOLUTELY NO DATA FROM IT -- NO PRIMARY RADAR; NO SECONDARY RADAR; NO ARTS. THE OUTAGE LASTED FOR 23 MINS. ZAU ASSUMED CTL OF OUR AIRSPACE; WHILE CID BECAME A VFR TWR. THE SUPVR; WHILE ON THE PHONE WITH THE RADAR TECHNICIAN; WAS ABLE TO RESET THE PWR SUPPLY AND THE ASR-9 WAS RETURNED TO SVC. PROB: ASR-9 IS NOT ON AN UNINTERRUPTIBLE PWR SUPPLY. WE HAD ANOTHER 'BUMP' IN PWR ON AUG/XX/94 AROUND XB00 PM AND AGAIN LOST THE ASR-9; ALBEIT ONLY FOR A COUPLE OF MINS. TSTMS AND LIGHTNING ALSO CAUSE THE ASR-9 PWR SUPPLY BOX TO LOCK UP. ARPT FACILITIES SAYS PUTTING THE ASR-9 ON UNINTERRUPTIBLE PWR SOURCE WILL SOLVE THIS PROB. ANOTHER PROB IS THAT OUR TWR EMER GENERATOR IS OF 1940-50'S VINTAGE AND ISN'T CAPABLE OF HANDLING THE LOAD REQUIRED BY ALL THE NEW EQUIP (ASR-9; MODE-S; ETC). WE NEED A NEW GENERATOR TO PREVENT INTERRUPTIONS IN SVC AND POSSIBLY VERY UNSAFE SITS. NEW GENERATOR HAS BEEN ON ORDER FOR YRS. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATED SUPVRS AND CTLRS-IN-CHARGE ARE NOT TRAINED IN RESTORING THE RADAR AFTER A PWR SURGE. RPTR STATED THE PRESENT EMER GENERATOR IS ADEQUATE IF IT ONLY HAD TO HANDLE ATC EQUIP. ARPT FACILITIES TECHNICIAN TOLD THE RPTR A UPS SYS WOULD PREVENT THE PWR SURGES AND WOULD SOLVE THE PROB OF RADAR FAILURE.