Japan’s incompatible standards for electric power frequency

On a short trip to the supermarket yesterday, I heard a snippet on CNN describing how rolling blackouts in the wake of the Japanese nuclear accident are hampering resumption of full production by Japanese industry and could thus have a prolonged ripple effect on the economies of both the United States and Japan. The reason is Japan’s incompatible standards for electric power frequency: the Eastern part is on 50 Hz (220-240V) while the West is on the American standard of 60 Hz (110-120V). There are only three facilities for safely transferring power in the whole country; they are complicated and expensive to build, a situation that threatens to greatly increase the economic consequences of the March 11 tsunami at a time when the world can least afford it.