TOKYO: The world's largest nuclear power plant resumed part of its operations on Saturday, two years after it was shut down following a strong earthquake off the Japanese coast, the operator said.One of seven reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, located 300 kilometres (185 miles) northwest of Tokyo, started test operations, said operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO). The company earlier said it would shift to full power generation at the reactor after up to 50 days of test runs."But it is still uncertain when we can resume operations at the remaining six reactors," Akemi Otsuki, a TEPCO spokeswoman, told. TEPCO decided on the move after the municipal governments gave the formal go-ahead, company officials said. The sprawling 8,200-megawatt plant has been dormant since July 2007 when a quake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale struck in the Sea of Japan (East Sea), killing 15 people and injuring thousands. Public concern mounted when television footage showed white smoke coming from an electric transformer, while the operator said radioactive water had leaked into the ocean during the tremor.
Sunday, February 28, 2010 HAVANA: Hundreds of wealthy merchants and cigar aficionados from all parts of the world gathered in Havana this week to bid high stakes for humidors full of premium cigars. Cuba's annual Habanos festival ended on Friday night with an auction of ornate humidors of cedar and mahogany stacked with hand-rolled stogies that raised 800,000 euros ($1.09 million dollars). Habanos S.A. executives this month said cigar sales fell 8 percent to $360 million in 2009, so they have created the Julieta, a smaller, milder version of the Romeo y Julieta cigar, aimed specifically at female smokers. Women now make up only 5 to 10 percent of customers for Habanos. But even with the creation of the Julieta, Garcia said Habanos has only modest hopes for 2010 sales, due largely to a weak economy in Spain, the biggest market for Cuban cigars. The flavor of premium tobacco relies on the soil and climate in which it is grown. The western province of Pinar Del Rio, famous fo...
Comments