2021年经济学人 比尔盖茨携手巴菲特共建新一代核电站(2)

Natrium employs hot, liquid sodium¹ as a coolant, and dispenses² with the moderator entirely³.

钠采用热的液态钠作为冷却剂，完全省去了慢化剂。

This is another idea that dates back to the 1950s, but one which has never been widely deployed⁴.

这是另一个可以追溯到20世纪50年代的想法，但从未被广泛应用。

Yet sodium offers several advantages as a coolant, says Chris Levesque, TerraPower's boss.

然而，泰拉能源的老板克里斯·莱韦斯克说，钠作为一种冷却剂有几个优点。

The liquid sodium's high temperature—around 500°C— makes the reactor⁵ more efficient.

液态钠的高温——大约500°C——能够使反应器更加有效。

At the same time, liquid sodium is much less corrosive⁶ to pipes than hot water.

与此同时，液态钠对管道的腐蚀性要比热水小得多。

And though the water in LWRS is pumped through at high pressure, Natrium is designed to operate at close to atmospheric⁷ pressure.

虽然LWRS中的水是在高压下泵入的，但钠的设计是在接近大气压力的情况下运行。

That means pipes, containment⁸ buildings and the like can be less beefy without affecting safety.

这意味着管道、安全壳建筑等可以在不影响安全的情况下变得不那么坚固。

TerraPower reckons its reactor needs only 20% of the concrete required by an LWR of equivalent power, which helps keep down costs.

泰拉能源估计，同等功率下，它的反应堆只需要LWR所需混凝土的20%，这有助于降低成本。

The firm's second big idea is its moltensalt energy-storage system. Inspiration for this came from the solar-power industry, says Mr Levesque.

该公司的第二大创意是它的熔盐储能系统。莱韦斯克先生说，其灵感来自太阳能行业。

Solar-thermal systems (in contradistinction to the more familiar photovoltaic ones that generate electricity directly) have, for several years, used similar tanks to store excess solar energy harvested during the day.

多年来，太阳能热系统(与更常见的直接发电的光伏系统相比)一直使用类似的水箱来储存白天收集的多余太阳能。

In Natrium's case, the sodium coolant transfers heat from the reactor into the molten-salt tanks.

在钠的例子中，钠冷却剂将热量从反应堆转移到熔盐槽中。

A separate set of pipes then removes heat from the tanks and uses it to produce electricity.

然后，一组独立的管道从储罐中除去热量，并利用它来发电。

TerraPower hopes this arrangement will let the new reactor ramp⁹ its power out-put up and down, depending on the price of electricity.

泰拉能源希望这种安排能让新反应堆根据电力价格的不同，使其电力输出上下波动。

This is something that LWRS struggle to do. The firm's demonstration¹⁰ plant will usually produce 345 megawatts (MW) of electrical power.

这是LWRS努力去做的事情。该公司的示范工厂通常会产生345兆瓦的电力。

But by releasing the energy stored in the molten-salt tanks, it will be able to boost that to 500mw for over five-and-a-half hours.

但是通过释放储存在熔盐罐里的能量，它将能够将能量提高到500兆瓦，持续超过五个半小时。

This should be a useful trick as power grids¹¹ fill up with wind and solar farms that are likely to cause power prices to fluctuate more than they do at present.

这应该是一个有用的技巧，因为电网与风力和太阳能发电厂连接起来很可能导致电力价格比目前波动更多。

Combined with lower construction costs, TerraPower hopes such agility¹² will make its plant more economically attractive than older designs.

再加上较低的建设成本，泰拉能源希望这种灵活性将使其工厂比旧的设计更具经济吸引力。

1 sodium   

n.（化）钠

参考例句：

• Out over the town the sodium lights were lit.在外面，全城的钠光灯都亮了。
• Common salt is a compound of sodium and chlorine.食盐是钠和氯的复合物。

2 dispenses   

v.分配，分与；分配( dispense的第三人称单数 )；施与；配（药）

参考例句：

• The machine dispenses a range of drinks and snacks. 这台机器发售各种饮料和小吃。
• This machine dispenses coffee. 这台机器发售咖啡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

4 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

5 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。

6 corrosive   

adj.腐蚀性的；有害的；恶毒的

参考例句：

• Many highly corrosive substances are used in the nuclear industry.核工业使用许多腐蚀性很强的物质。
• Many highly corrosive substances are used in the nuclear industry.核工业使用许多腐蚀性很强的物质。

7 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

8 containment   

n.阻止，遏制；容量

参考例句：

• Your list might include such things as cost containment,quality,or customer satisfaction.你的清单上应列有诸如成本控制、产品质量、客户满意程度等内容。
• Insularity and self-containment,it is argued,go hand in hand.他们争论说，心胸狭窄和自我封闭是并存的。

9 ramp   

n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速

参考例句：

• That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。
• The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。

10 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

11 grids   

n.格子( grid的名词复数 )；地图上的坐标方格；（输电线路、天然气管道等的）系统网络；（汽车比赛）赛车起跑线

参考例句：

• Typical framed structures are beams, grids, plane and space frames or trusses. 典型构架结构为梁、格栅、平面的和空间的框架或桁架。 来自辞典例句
• The machines deliver trimmed grids for use or stock. 这种机器铸出修整过的板栅，以供使用或储存。 来自辞典例句

12 agility   

n.敏捷，活泼

参考例句：

• The boy came upstairs with agility.那男孩敏捷地走上楼来。
• His intellect and mental agility have never been in doubt.他的才智和机敏从未受到怀疑。