[Marxism] THE MILITANT: "Cuba confronts new wave of blackouts"

[David Walters <dwalters@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Walter, thank for pointing out the problem The Militant article
(honestly, I hardly ever read their international news anyway).

On "Soviet era technology". Walter the technology the USSR used in Cuba
may of been state of the art for the USSR but it certainly wan't the
"state" of technology for anywhere else. Like their nuclear power
plants (which, thank the gods, the Cubans finally cancelled) all of
which didn't include reinforced containment domes like Western ones do,
their "regular" power production was nothing to brag about. Their heat
rates (the actual measure of a plants efficiency: megawatts out to
total Btu content/fuel going in) were dismally high (high being bad, a
low heat rate being better).

The Soviets didn't have to worry about efficiency because they had the
largest production of oil in the world. The also had coal reserves near
that of the US. Cuba's electrical system was designed for a economy
based on fossil fuel abundance which Cuba is not of course. However,
Cuba also had zero alternatives at the time.

A large part of Cuba's problems isn't only production, it's
distribution. Older distribution transformers, analog sensing devices,
and human operator input to make corrections. I understand that Cuba in
the last 5 years has made extensive upgrades in all this, and I'm glad
to see it. . . and partly with methods and technology developed locally
in the country.


My two cents on this,

David


_______________________________________________
Marxism mailing list
Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism