ALSO. . .

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will send investigators to slaughterhouses next week to search for the source of contaminated beef that led to the nation’s largest recall of meat. . . Peco Energy Co. and British Energy said they have formed a joint venture, AmGen Energy Co., to buy and operate nuclear plants in the United States. Philadelphia-based Peco, under Chairman Corbin McNeill, has turned its nuclear plants from some of the worst-run in the country to some of the best, and is looking to buy more plants at bargain prices.