Iran confirms launch of its first nuclear power plant

    TEHRAN, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI（原子能组织)) Ali Akbar Salehi confirmed on Friday next week's launch of his country's first nuclear power plant.
    "We are getting ready to transfer(转机) fuel of Bushehr Power Plant to the pool located near the heart of reactor¹ next week," Salehi said as quoted by the official news agency IRNA.
    He said the project will take seven to eight days.
    The Russian Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) said earlier in the day that the launch of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in Iran has been set for Aug. 21.
    One day earlier, Bushehr nuclear power plant workshop Chief Mahmoud Jafari said that the main tests and inspections² of the power plant had been successfully carried out during the last six months.
    Salehi once said on July 7 the Bushehr nuclear power plant is to become operational in the Iranian month of Shahrivar (Aug. 23- Sept. 22).
    Bushehr is located in one of Iran's hottest districts（区域,地区） on the Persian Gulf³ coast. The plant construction started in the 1970s by several German companies, who pulled out following a U.S. embargo⁴ on high-tech⁵ supplies to Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
    Russia signed a contract with Iran to complete the plant construction in 1998.
    The start-up date has been postponed⁶ for a number of times. It was originally scheduled for September 2007 but was delayed by serious financing shortage.
    Russia has been helping⁷ Iran build the plant since the mid- 1990s. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had promised Russia would start up the reactor at the Bushehr plant this summer.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

2 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

4 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

5 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

6 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。