2021年经济学人 比尔盖茨携手巴菲特共建新一代核电站(3)

It all looks good on paper. But then, nuclear power always does. The industry has been plagued by delays and cost overruns for decades.

从纸上看一切都很好。但话说回来，核能总是如此。

Existing sodium¹-cooled reactors³, most of which are experimental, have a spotty record.

数十年来，该行业一直受到工期延误和成本超支的困扰。

A plant in Japan suffered a serious fire in 1995 and was shut down for over a decade.

现有的钠冷却反应堆大部分都是实验性的，其记录参差不齐。

The Superphénix reactor² in France, built in 1974, proved extremely unreliable, and was offline for years at a time. It closed for good in 1998.

日本的一家工厂在1995年遭受了严重的火灾，并被关闭了十多年。法国的Superphénix反应堆建于1974年，事实证明它非常不可靠，一度中断了好几年。它于1998年永久关闭。

(Other reactors, such as the Fast Flux⁴ Test Facility in Washington state, have better records.)

(其他反应堆，比如华盛顿州的Fast Flux Test Facility，有更好的记录。)

The Union of Concerned Scientists, an American not-for-profit organisation⁵, argues in a report published in March that sodium's advantages as a coolant are counterbalanced by drawbacks.

美国非营利组织“忧思科学家联盟”在3月份发表的一份报告中指出，钠作为冷却剂的优点被其缺点抵消了。

One is that a reactor which ran too hot might see its power output rise as a consequence.

一个是，反应堆运行过热可能会导致其功率输出上升。

Unlike water, the loss of which shuts a reactor down for lack of moderation, sodium slightly damps the chain-reaction.

与水不同的是，钠会轻微地抑制链式反应，而水的流失会导致反应堆因缺乏节制而关闭。

If bubbles of sodium vapour formed in the coolant, that damping effect would diminish, risking a dangerous feedback loop of rising temperatures and growing power output.

如果在冷却剂中形成钠蒸汽的气泡，这种阻尼效应将会减弱，冒着温度上升和功率输出增加的危险反馈回路的风险。

The physics of such judgments⁶ are tricky⁷. Few countries have as much nuclear experience as France, which generates around 70% of its electricity that way.

这种判断的物理原理是复杂的。很少有国家拥有像法国这样丰富的核电经验，法国大约70%的电力都是通过这种方式产生的。

Yet in 2015 French regulators said they could not determine whether sodium-cooled reactors are significantly safer than modern LWRS.

然而在2015年，法国监管机构表示，他们不能确定钠冷反应堆是否显著显然比现代LWRS更安全。

TerraPower, moreover, insists that its Natrium plant is designed in a way that makes runaway⁸ reactions impossible.

此外，泰拉能源公司坚称，其钠厂的设计方式使失控反应不可能发生。

America's government, for its part, thinks the technology has merit.

美国政府则认为这项技术有其优点。

It is chipping in $80m to help TerraPower build the demonstration⁹ plant, which the firm says should be ready by 2028.

该公司出资8000万美元帮助泰拉能源建立示范工厂，该公司称该工厂将在2028年完工。

In the meantime, says Mr Levesque, TerraPower has been fielding inquiries¹⁰ from electricity firms interested in its technology.

与此同时，莱维斯克先生说，泰拉能源公司一直致力于处理对其技术感兴趣的电力公司的咨询。

Whether Mr Gates's bet on a nuclear-power revival¹¹ will pay off remains¹² to be seen.

盖茨先生对核电复兴的押注是否会带来回报还有待观察。

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 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。

3 reactors   

起反应的人( reactor的名词复数 )； 反应装置； 原子炉； 核反应堆

参考例句：

• The TMI nuclear facility has two reactors. 三哩岛核设施有两个反应堆。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• The earliest production reactors necessarily used normal uranium as fuel. 最早为生产用的反应堆，必须使用普通铀作为燃料。

4 flux   

n.流动；不断的改变

参考例句：

• The market is in a constant state of flux.市场行情在不断变化。
• In most reactors,there is a significant flux of fast neutrons.在大部分反应堆中都有一定强度的快中子流。

5 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

6 judgments   

判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判

参考例句：

• A peculiar austerity marked his judgments of modern life. 他对现代生活的批评带着一种特殊的苛刻。
• He is swift with his judgments. 他判断迅速。

7 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

8 runaway   

n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的

参考例句：

• The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
• He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。

9 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。

10 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。