Legacy From the 1800s Leaves Tokyo In the Dark 322
itwbennett writes "East Japan entered its fifth day of power rationing on Friday, with no end to the planned blackouts in sight. The local electrical utility can't make up the shortfall by importing power from another region, though, because Japan lacks a national power grid, a consequence of a decision made in the late 1800s."
Re:Well.... (Score:5, Insightful)
They can't really change it now, can they?
The wire doesn't care very much. In the areas that are destroyed, they have to buy all new equipment anyway. Seems like a good time to standardize.
Free Market (Score:4, Insightful)
FTA: "Japan's electricity system got its start in 1883 with the founding of Tokyo Electric Light Co. Demand quickly grew and in 1895 the company bought electricity generation equipment from Germany's AEG. In west Japan the same evolution was taking place, and Osaka Electric Lamp imported equipment from General Electric."
Wait: I thought the free market solved all problems and never needed government intervention.
Re:Time to build big extension cords (Score:4, Insightful)
For real? How to get the steam above the waterline? You do realize this is high pressure steam (~1200 psi), and that traditional catapults use steam in the first place. Besides, steam rises!
Oh sorry, my bad, I guess they just need to open some hatches and let the steam waft out of the boilers to the surface.
I was under the impression that 300MW worth of high pressure steam would take a sizeable pipe (or pipes), and running that pipe from the reactor boiler to someplace where you could put a generator would require cutting holes in many decks of the aircraft carrier or cutting a hole in the side of the boat.
The Invisible Hand of the Market strikes again! (Score:5, Insightful)
Looks like the invisible hand of the free market really dropped the ball that time....