The New Age of Nuclear Power

The New Age of Nuclear Power

 

By Spencer Reiss /

Originally published in Wired.

 

Get ready for the mass-produce, meltdown-proof future of nuclear energy

 

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A team of Chinese scientists advising the Beijing leadership estimates that by 2050, China could require 300 gigawatts of nuclear output, not much less than the 350 gigawatts produced worldwide today. To meet that growing demand, physicists² and engineers at Tsinghua University’s Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology (INET) in Beijing are building a new nuclear power facility that promises a better way to harness the atom: a pebble-bed reactor³.

 

Small enough to be assembled from massproduced parts and cheap enough for customers without billion-dollar bank accounts, this reactor brings nuclear power into a new age. Plus, the reactor’s safety is a matter of physics, not operator skill or reinforced concrete.

 

A better design

 

Just 40 minutes from Tsinghua University, a five-story, cube-shaped building nestles against a mountainside. Beneath its cavernous main room are the 100 tons of steel, graphite and hydraulic⁴ gear known as HTR-10 (i.e., hightemperature reactor, 10 megawatt).

 

Instead of white-hot fuel rods that fire a conventional reactor, HTR-10 is powered by 27,000 billiard-sized graphite balls packed with tiny flecks⁵ of uranium. Instead of superhot water — intensely corrosive⁶ and highly radioactive — the core is bathed in inert⁷ helium. The gas can reach much higher temperatures than water without bursting pipes, which means more energy pushing the turbine. No water means no steam, and no billion-dollar pressure dome⁸ to contain it in the event of a leak. And with the uranium sealed inside layers of graphite and impermeable⁹ silicon¹⁰ carbide — designed to last 1 million years — there’s no steaming pool for spent fuel rods. Depleted¹¹ balls can go straight into lead-lined steel bins¹² in the basement.

 

Furthermore, this reactor is meltdown-proof.

Vocabulary Focus

harness (v) [5hB:nis] to control something, usually in order to use its power

cavernous (adj) [5kAvEnEs] describing something with a very large, open space inside it

impermeable (adj) [im5pE:mjEbl] not allowing anything, such as liquid or gas, to go through it

spent (adj) [spent] completely used to the point of no longer having any power or effectiveness

 

Specialized¹³ Terms

meltdown (n) 核电厂反应堆核心熔毁 a serious accident in which nuclear fuel becomes too hot, melts through its container and escapes into the environment

gigawatt (n) 百万千瓦；10亿瓦特 a unit for measuring power equal to one billion watts¹

reactor (n) 反应堆 a large machine that uses nuclear fuel to produce power

graphite (n) 石墨 a soft, dark-grey form of carbon, used in the middle of pencils, as a lubricant in machines, and in some atomic reactors¹⁴

fuel rod (n) 燃料棒 a metal tube containing nuclear fuel that is used in some types of nuclear reactors to produce nuclear power

uranium (n) 铀 a heavy metallic¹⁵ element that is radioactive and is used in the production of nuclear power and in some types of nuclear weapons

radioactive (adj) 放射性的 possessing or producing the energy that comes from the breaking up of atoms

turbine (n) 涡轮（机）；叶轮（机） a type of machine through which liquid or gas flows and turns a special wheel with blades in order to produce power

核能发电新时代

张梵 译

 

准备迎接大量生产、反应堆核心不会熔毁的核能发电新时代

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一个提供北京当局建议的中国科学家团队，预计中国于2050年时，将需要3000亿瓦的核能电力输出，与当今全球3500亿瓦的电力输出相差不远。为应对这波升高的电力需求，北京清华大学核能与新能源技术研究院的物理学家及工程师，正着手兴建一座称为卵石床实验反应堆的核能发电设备，以加强利用原子能量。

该反应堆体积小，可由大量生产的组件组装而成，而且价格低廉，客户纵然没有数十亿美元预算，也可购买，因而将核能发电带入一个新时代。此外，反应堆的安全取决于物理因素，而非操作者的技术或钢筋混凝土是否坚固。

 

更好的设计

距清华大学40分钟车程的山坡旁，紧依着一座5层楼的立方体形建筑物。建筑物如巨穴般的主房间下方，是座由100吨钢铁、石墨及水压设备组成的 HTR-10（即10兆瓦高温反应堆）。

HTR-10 高温反应堆不用点燃传统反应堆的白热燃料棒，而是使用2.7万颗撞球般大小、内含铀微粒的石墨球体作为动力来源。HTR-10也不用腐蚀性超强及放射度高的极烫热水，而是将核心浸在惰性氦气中。氦气可耐比水温高很多的温度而不会令管线爆裂，意即可产生较多的能量来驱动涡轮机。不用水就不会产生水蒸气，同时也不需要价值数十亿美元的压力舱来控制蒸气外泄情况。由于铀被一层层的石墨及非渗透性碳化硅密封，因此不会有燃料棒被用尽后，产生一堆蒸气之虞；密封层的设计为了使其可使用100万年。耗尽的球体会直接送到地下室的镀铅钢铁容器中。

尤有甚者，这座反应堆使用的是防熔毁核心。

1 watts   

（电力计量单位）瓦，瓦特( watt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• My lamp uses 60 watts; my toaster uses 600 watts. 我的灯用60瓦，我的烤面包器用600瓦。
• My lamp uses 40 watts. 我的灯40瓦。

2 physicists   

物理学家( physicist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• For many particle physicists, however, it was a year of frustration. 对于许多粒子物理学家来说，这是受挫折的一年。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
• Physicists seek rules or patterns to provide a framework. 物理学家寻求用法则或图式来构成一个框架。

3 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。

4 hydraulic   

adj.水力的；水压的，液压的；水力学的

参考例句：

• The boat has no fewer than five hydraulic pumps.这艘船配有不少于5个液压泵。
• A group of apprentics were operating the hydraulic press.一群学徒正在开动水压机。

5 flecks   

n.斑点，小点( fleck的名词复数 )；癍

参考例句：

• His hair was dark, with flecks of grey. 他的黑发间有缕缕银丝。
• I got a few flecks of paint on the window when I was painting the frames. 我在漆窗框时，在窗户上洒了几点油漆。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 inert   

adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的

参考例句：

• Inert gas studies are providing valuable information about other planets,too.对惰性气体的研究，也提供了有关其它行星的有价值的资料。
• Elemental nitrogen is a very unreactive and inert material.元素氮是一个十分不活跃的惰性物质。

8 dome   

n.圆屋顶，拱顶

参考例句：

• The dome was supported by white marble columns.圆顶由白色大理石柱支撑着。
• They formed the dome with the tree's branches.他们用树枝搭成圆屋顶。

9 impermeable   

adj.不能透过的，不渗透的

参考例句：

• The canoe is made from an impermeable wood.独木舟由防水木头制成。
• The external layer of the skin is relatively impermeable to water.皮肤的外层不透水。

10 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

11 depleted   

adj. 枯竭的, 废弃的 动词deplete的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Food supplies were severely depleted. 食物供应已严重不足。
• Both teams were severely depleted by injuries. 两个队都因队员受伤而实力大减。

12 bins   

n.大储藏箱( bin的名词复数 )；宽口箱（如面包箱，垃圾箱等）v.扔掉，丢弃( bin的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Garbage from all sources was deposited in bins on trolleys. 来自各方的垃圾是装在手推车上的垃圾箱里的。 来自辞典例句
• Would you be pleased at the prospect of its being on sale in dump bins? 对于它将被陈列在倾销箱中抛售这件事，你能欣然接受吗？ 来自辞典例句

13 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

14 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。

15 metallic   

adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的

参考例句：

• A sharp metallic note coming from the outside frightened me.外面传来尖锐铿锵的声音吓了我一跳。
• He picked up a metallic ring last night.昨夜他捡了一个金属戒指。