Tánaiste and Minster for Enterprise, Trade & Employment, Mary Harney, is in Washington today for a series of top level meetings with senior members of the US administration.

America’s worst blackout should have been contained by operators at Ohio’s FirstEnergy firm, a three-month US and Canadian investigation has concluded.

The Ohio power company under the spotlight following the biggest blackout in America’s history has said there were problems, including strange voltage fluctuations, in the Midwest power grid hours before its transmission lines failed.

America and Canada have formed a joint task force to investigate what caused the huge North American power blackout, and prevent it from happening again.

Terrorists may have targeted the Palo Verde nuclear power plant in Arizona, US Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said today.

THE UN nuclear watchdog agency yesterday said stricter security measures are urgently needed to keep radioactive material out of the hands of terrorists, who could use it to wreak havoc with “dirty bombs”.