Free Republic

Expansion work is to begin at the Aluto-Langano Geo-thermal Power Plant, in February, with the delivery of equipment to the site. The project, estimated to cost 35 million dollars, has already had 17 containers of materials delivered, with 10 more currently at the dry port, according to Miskir Negash, public relations officer of the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo). The Corporation will also import 400tn of international standard cement over the coming few weeks, Miskir said. The expansion includes the digging of four wells, up to 2,500m deep, boosting Aluto-Langano's geo-thermal capacity to 70Mw; the total potential for the country...

The great taboo against nuclear power seems to be over in Washington. This is a mixed blessing. The subject had been off limits to environmentally correct politicians since the spring of 1979, when the Three Mile Island accident inspired the Woodstock of the antinuke movement. More than 65,000 protesters marched on the Capitol to hear energy experts like Jackson Browne and Benjamin Spock - and, of course, Jane Fonda, an authority because of her role in the "The China Syndrome." Celebrities and politicians, warning of meltdowns and cancer epidemics, demanded the shutdown of all nuclear plants. Protesters dressed as mushrooms...