plant

Japan will switch the world’s largest nuclear power plant back on next week, after an alarm-setting glitch forced a halt to its first restart attempt since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, the operator said. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, known as TEPCO, said it plans to resume the start-up of a reactor at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa station in Niigata prefecture on Feb. 9. A previous bid to relaunch the unit last month was suspended just hours into the process. “We plan to start up the reactor on February 9,” Takeyuki…

Japan’s Niigata prefectural assembly on Tuesday approved a plan to allow the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station—the world’s largest—to resume operations, marking a pivotal step in the country’s return to nuclear energy nearly 15 years after the Fukushima disaster. The vote advances Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s first nuclear restart since the 2011 earthquake and tsunami crippled its Fukushima Daiichi plant and led to a nationwide shutdown of 54 reactors. Since then, Japan has permanently retired some units and restarted…

Ethiopia opens first phase of Ogaden LNG project, pivoting from exports to power its own growth CALUB, Somali Region — Under a rinsed-blue sky and a brisk Ogaden wind, Ethiopia on Thursday inaugurated the first phase of its long-delayed liquefied natural gas project, a move that signals a decisive turn inward: from chasing export windfalls to fueling its own power grid, factories, and farms. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed stood before an array of valves and silvered pipes at the Calub gas field and called the Ogaden LNG project…

The recent arrest of five individuals in Lesotho for the illegal trade of pelargonium has revealed significant flaws in the government's capacity to safeguard endangered plant species, as reported by Sechaba Mokhethi for GroundUp. Back in 2004, the government classified Pelargonium sidoides—often called African geranium—as a protected species. This plant has gained global recognition for its medicinal properties, being a key ingredient in various herbal remedies, including some cough syrups. Yet, despite these protective…

At the initiative of the Congolese Ministry of Forestry, Brazzaville will host the fourth edition of the plant fair until the end of November. This fair is still called the meeting place for green hands and is an exhibition for gardeners who sell fruit trees, medicinal plants and forest species, to the delight of the planters. The results from previous editions are very flattering.…