2019年经济学人 长翅膀的切尔诺贝利(1)

 

In 1957 work began on Project Pluto¹, a treetop-skimming American missile loaded with hydrogen bombs.

1957年，冥王星计划开始，这是一个搭载了氢弹的美国导弹。

Nothing odd about that, except that the missile itself was also to be propelled by nuclear energy.

这没什么奇异之处，除了这枚导弹本身也是由核能驱动的。

A reactor² on board would suck in air, heat and thus expand it, and then hurl³ it out of the back to provide thrust.

导弹上的反应堆吸收空气、加热并使其膨胀，然后将其从后部抛出以提供推力。

Unfortunately, this also spewed out radioactive particles— which would hardly matter in war,

不幸的是，放射性粒子也被喷出—在战争中，这几乎是没有关系的，

but meant the missile could not be tested safely, and so the project was cancelled.

但这意味无法对这枚导弹进行安全的测试，所以该计划被取消了。

America's experience has not, however, deterred⁴ Vladimir Putin, Russia's president.

但美国的经历没有打消俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京的念头。

In March 2018 he announced the development of a Pluto-like missile called Burevestnik

2018年3月，他宣布开发一种类似冥王星计划的导弹名为Burevestnik，

("petrel", a bird regarded by sailors of old as a harbinger of storms).

（即“海燕”，一种被水手们认为是暴风雨先兆的鸟）。

This has since been tested in Novaya Zemlya, and has crashed several times.

这种导弹已在新地岛进行了测试，但失败了好几次。

On August 8th there was another accident ascribed by many observers to Burevestnik.

8月8日，又发生了另一起事故，很多观察者将该事故归咎于Burevestnik。

Seven scientists perished in a rocket explosion on an offshore⁵ platform near Arkhangelsk. The damage was widespread.

7名科学家在阿尔汉格尔斯克附近的一次海上平台火箭爆炸事故中遇难。摧毁范围广泛。

Some reports suggest that on August 13th Nyonoksa, a village 40km away,

一些报道表明8月13日，在此处辐射超过背景值后，

was almost evacuated⁶ after radiation there exceeded background levels.

400米远处的一个村庄Nyonoksa几乎疏散一空。

As Michael Elleman, a missile expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a think-tank,

根据智囊团国际战略研究所的一名导弹专家Michael Elleman的观察，

observes, nuclear propulsion can work in two ways. One is fission⁷ reaction—the sort used in power stations.

核能推进起作用的方式有两种。一种是裂变反应—发电站使用的方式。

But, as Project Pluto's designers found, that is tricky⁸ to fit in a missile.

但根据冥王星计划设计者的发现，这对于导弹来说是很棘手的。

The other option is radioisotope decay, which uses a substance such as polonium-218 to heat and evaporate a liquid.

另一个选择是放射性同位素衰变，即利用一种物质，如polonium-218，加热并蒸发液体。

The gas generated might be employed to propel probes through the vacuum of space,

产生的气体或许可用于推动探测器穿过真空空间

but because it produces less thrust than fission the process has not been thought suitable for missiles.

但因为它产生的推力比裂变小，因此这个过程被认为不适用于导弹。

1 Pluto   

n.冥王星

参考例句：

• Pluto is the furthest planet from the sun.冥王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Pluto has an elliptic orbit.冥王星的轨道是椭圆形的。

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 hurl   

vt.猛投，力掷，声叫骂

参考例句：

• The best cure for unhappiness is to hurl yourself into your work.医治愁苦的最好办法就是全身心地投入工作。
• To hurl abuse is no way to fight.谩骂决不是战斗。

4 deterred   

v.阻止，制止( deter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I told him I wasn't interested, but he wasn't deterred. 我已告诉他我不感兴趣，可他却不罢休。
• Jeremy was not deterred by this criticism. 杰里米没有因这一批评而却步。 来自辞典例句

5 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

6 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

7 fission   

n.裂开；分裂生殖

参考例句：

• The fission of the cell could be inhibited with certain chemicals.细胞的裂变可以通过某些化学药品加以抑制。
• Nuclear fission releases tremendous amounts of energy.核裂变释放出巨大的能量。

8 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。