能源与公众安全

凝雨云

1. It has become evident in the past few years that the amount of fossil fuel in the earth's substrata is not infinite source of energy. Due to a steady increase in industrial and technological demand, an energy shortage is highly probable if the industrialized nations do not conserve existing resources and establish alternative ones. The fossil fuels, coal, oil and natural gas, are rapidly diminishing in supply as consumption increases.

　　在最近几年已非常明显的看出在地层里的矿物燃料不是无穷无尽的能源。由于工业和技术的持续的需求，如果工业化国家不想办法保护现存资源和确定替代资源的化，能源短缺是非常可能的。矿物燃料，煤、石油和天然气，由于消费的增加而在快速的递减着。

　　2. Clearly, a replacement for these natural sources of energy is required. Several possible alternatives have been suggested, such as solar, geothermal and nuclear energy. Solar energy has the obvious advantage that the sun is an inexhaustible and abundant source which is free of both pollution and radioactivity. A lot of research is currently directed at discovering ways of harnessing solar power cheaply and efficiently, and of storing solar energy in reasonably small spaces. Geothermal energy, which involves stored underground reservoirs of steam, is also pollution-free. Nuclear fission, a process whereby a uranium nucleus absorbs a neutron, is not. The reaction causes the nucleus to split into lighter elements, producing a large amount as heat. The by-products of this reaction are dangerously radioactive.

　　清楚地，需要这些天然能源的替代物。已经有了几种可能的替代物，譬如太阳能、地热能和核能。由于太阳是没有污染和放射性的无穷无尽的丰富资源，具有明显的优点。现在大量的研究集中在找到廉价、有效地收集和较小的体积里储存太阳能的方法。包括地下蒸汽储藏的地热能，也是无污染的。核裂变却是一个铀核吸收一个中子，而不是其它过程。这个反应导致原子核分裂成更轻的碎片，产生大量的热。这个反应的副产品具有危险的放射性。

　　3.One of the major problems of nuclear energy is the inability of scientists to discover a safe way to dispose of the radioactive wastes which occur throughout the nuclear process. Many of these wastes remain dangerously active for thousands of years, while others have a life span closer to a quarter of mil-loin years. Various methods have been used to date, but all have revealed weak-nesses, forcing scientists to continue their search..

　　核能的主要问题是科学家无能力找出安全销毁贯穿在核反应过程中所产生的放射性废料的方法。一些废料会在数千年内保持着危险性，然而另一些甚至会有二十五万年的活性。到今天已经使用了几种方法，但都有缺点，迫使科学家们继续他们的研究。

　　4. The nuclear process involves several stages, which the danger of radioactivity constantly present. Fuel for nuclear reactors comes from uranium ore, where when mined, spontaneously produces radioactive substances as by-products. This characteristic of uranium ore went undetected for a long time, resulting in the deaths, due to cancer, of hundreds of uranium miners.

    核过程包括几个阶段，每个阶段都有放射性的危险。核反应的燃料来自于铀矿，采矿时，天然会产生带放射性的副产品。很长时间里铀矿的这个性质没被检测出来，由于忽略，导致了成百上千个铀矿矿工的死亡。

　　5. Extraction of the uranium follows mining of the ore. The ore is crushed to the consistency of fine sand and the uranium is removed. In Canada and the United States millions of tons of residue containing radioactive by-products remain uncovered in massive piles. The result is that some of it is washed into rivers, contaminating entire river systems.

　　采矿之后是铀的提取。矿石被压碎成粒度一致的细砂，铀被取出。在加拿大和美国上百万吨包含着放射性副产品的残渣露天大堆堆放。其结果就是有一些被水冲进河里，污染了整个流域。
　　6. The ore having been extracted, the uranium is sent to a chemical plant. There it is transformed into uranium hexafluoride, which in turn is sent to gas diffusion plant to be enriched. The enriched uranium is sent to other plants, where it is transformed into uranium oxide in the form of small pellets. These are enclosed in long metal tubes, which becomes fuel rods for nuclear reactors. The rods are then installed in the reactors, where they remain until the accumulation of wastes becomes such that the fuel is no longer usable. The "used" fuel is sent to the reprocessing plant, where the radioactive wastes are removed; the remaining uranium is sent to a chemical plant to start the fuel cycle over again. The radioactive wastes are sent to be stored or buried. The nature of wastes together with their lengthy life span has made in extremely difficult for scientists to find a way of disposing of them safety and permanently.

　　矿石被提取以后，铀被送进化学工厂。在那里它被转化为铀的六氟化物，再被送进气体扩散工厂作富集处理。富集了的铀被送到其他工厂转化成小球状的铀氧化物。 这些被封装在长金属管里，变成了核反应的原料棒。然后燃料棒被装进反应堆它们被留在那里直到废物积累多了，燃料不能再用了为止。用过的燃料送到再处理工厂，在那里去除带放射性活性的废物留下的铀被送到化学工厂重新开始一个作为燃料的周期。 放射性废物被储藏或掩埋。废物的性质和漫长的活性周期给科学家们寻找安全又永久地处理它们的方法制造了很大的困难。

　　7.The United States attempted to bury much of its radioactive waste material in containers made of steel covered in concrete and capable of holding a million gallons. For a long time it was believed that the nuclear waste problem had been solved, until some of these tanks leaked, allowing the radioactive waste to seep into the environment. Canada presently stores its nuclear waste in underwater tanks, with the long-term effects largely unknown.

　　美国企图把许多放射性废料埋进一百万加仑的钢筋混凝土容器里。在其中有一些容器发生渗漏事故使得放射性废料流入环境以前的很长时间里，人们相信核废料的问题已经解决。加拿大目前把它的核废料储藏在水下的大罐里，其长期效果在很大程度上仍是个未知数。

　　8. However, plans are under consideration for above-ground storage of spent fuel from reactors. These plans include the building of three vast concrete containers, which would be two stories high and approximately the length and width of two football fields. Other suggestions include enclosing the waste in glass blocks to be stored in underground caverns, or placing hot containers in the Antarctic region, where they would melt the ice, thereby sinking down about a mile. This idea has since been abandoned because of the possible adverse effect on the ice sheets.

(From Reading English for Academic Study, by Michael H.Long Weddy Allen )

　　然而，人们正在计划将来自核反应的废料在地面储藏。这些计划包括建造三个巨大的水泥容器，每个有两层楼高，长和宽约有两个足球场那么大。其余的建议有把废料封装进玻璃罐放到地下的洞穴里，或者把热的容器放到南极地区，在那里它们会融化掉冰而下沉近一哩。这个意见已经被拒绝，因为它可能会对冰盖造成负面效应。

凝雨云

沙发嘿嘿

sky2008

好帖子呀。谢谢，云版主呀。

upc_reservoir

凝姐还是个英语高手？

sky2008

确实是好贴子呀

wycan_112

不错的帖子
谢谢楼主