TED演讲:恐惧核能是怎样伤害环境的(9)

 And what about the waste? Everyone worries about the waste. 那来自核能的废物呢？每个人都在担心废料。

Well, the interesting thing about the waste is how little of it there is. This is just from one plant. 但是有趣的是，产生的废物其实只有一点儿。这就是由一个核电站产生的废料。

If you take all the nuclear waste we've ever made in the United¹ States,  如果你把美国核电站产生的所有废物加起来，

put it on a football field, stacked² it up, it would only reach 20 feet high.  放到一个橄榄球场地堆积起来，只有6.1米高。

And people say it's poisoning³ people or doing something -- it's not, it's just sitting there, it's just being monitored. 人们说废物会对人体或其他事物产生伤害--但它并不会，只是被堆积在那里，并有人监管着。

There's not very much of it. By contrast⁴, the waste that we don't control from energy production -- we call it "pollution,"  而且量并不大。相反，我们没有控制的发电产生的废物，我们称之为“污染”，

and it kills seven million people a year, and it's threatening very serious levels of global⁵ warming.  一年内七百万人死于此，而且它威胁着世界，大大加重气候变暖。

And the truth is that even if we get good at using that waste as fuel, there's always going to be some fuel left over. 事实上，如果我们能够很好地把废物当成燃料，世界上总会有剩余的燃料。

That means⁶ there's always going to be people that think it's a big problem 这就意味着总会有人认为这是一个大问题，

for reasons that maybe don't have as much to do with the actual waste as we think. 因为我们可能没有能够在预期之内很好的利用废物。

Well, what about the weapons?  好，那武器呢？

Maybe the most surprising thing is that we can't find any examples of countries that have nuclear power and then,  可能最令人惊讶的是我们找不到任何例子，没有哪个拥有核能的国家突然说，

"Oh!" decide to go get a weapon. In fact, it works⁷ the opposite.  “哦”，然后决定要制造一个武器。事实正相反。

What we find is the only way we know how to get rid large numbers of nuclear weapons 我们发现，唯一能使我们摆脱大量核武器的途径，

is by using the plutonium in the warheads as fuel in our nuclear power plants.  就是把弹头中的钚当成反应堆中的燃料。

And so, if you are wanting to get the world rid of nuclear weapons, then we're going to need a lot more nuclear power. 因此，如果你想让世界没有核武器，就要使用更多的核电。

1 united   

adj.和谐的；团结的；联合的，统一的

参考例句：

• The whole nation is closely united.全国人民紧密团结。
• The two men were united by community of interests.共同的利益使两个人结合在一起。

2 stacked   

v.堆积( stack的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• a table stacked with glasses 摆满了玻璃杯的桌子
• I had stacked my shirts and underclothes in two empty drawers. 我把衬衫和内衣塞进两个抽屉。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 poisoning   

n.中毒，毒害，投毒v.毒死( poison的现在分词 )；污染；放毒于；对…有不良影响

参考例句：

• a series of deaths caused by carbon monoxide poisoning 一氧化碳中毒引起的一连串死亡
• cases of salmonella poisoning 沙门菌中毒病例

4 contrast   

vt.使与…对比，使与…对照；vi. 与…形成对照；n.对比，对照，差异

参考例句：

• In contrast with her sister,she is very tall.与姐姐相比，她个子很高。
• Black hair is a sharp contrast to the white skin.黑发白肤形成鲜明的对照。

5 global   

adj.全球的；球形的；世界的

参考例句：

• A global environmental meeting is going to be held here.一个全球环境会议将在这里举行。
• The report takes a global view of the company's problems.这份报告对公司的问题作了综合性的论述。

6 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

7 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。