2020年经济学人 原子能--小型裂变(1)

War zones are dangerous places. Where better, then, for a nuclear reactor¹?

战区是危险的地方。对核反应堆来说，却是个好地方。

On March 9th America's government awarded a trio of firms $39.7m

3月9日，美国政府给三家公司拨款3970万美元，

to design "microreactors" that can supply a few megawatts of power to remote military bases,

用于设计“微型反应堆”，为偏远的军事基地提供几兆瓦的电力，

and be moved quickly by road, rail, sea and air.

并可通过公路、铁路、海路和空路快速移动。

The idea of small reactors² is as old as nuclear power itself. In July 1951,

小型反应堆的想法和核能一样古老。1951年7月，

five months before a reactor in Idaho became the first in the world to produce usable electricity through fission³,

爱达荷州的一个反应堆成为世界上第一个通过裂变产生可用电力的反应堆的5个月前，

America began building USS Nautilus, a nuclear-powered submarine.

美国开始建立鹦鹉螺号核动力潜艇。

In the 1960s and 1970s small reactors powered bases in Alaska and Greenland,

上世纪60和70年代，小型反应堆为阿拉斯加和格陵兰岛的基地、

a radar⁴ facility in Wyoming, a research station in Antarctica and—from a cargo⁵ ship— the Panama Canal Zone.

怀俄明州的一个雷达设施、南极洲的一所研究站以及巴拿马运河区提供动力。

America still uses nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft-carriers.

美国仍在使用核动力潜艇和航空母舰。

But land-based mini-reactors proved unreliable and expensive and have fallen out of favour.

但事实证明陆基迷你反应堆并不可靠、造价昂贵，已经失宠。

Interest has been revived by recent wars, in which American forces proved extraordinarily⁶ hungry for energy.

最近的战争重新激起了人们的兴趣，在这些战争中，美国军队被证明极度渴求能源。

Early in the Iraq war, fuel made up over a third of the tonnage transported to the region.

早在伊拉克战争中，运往该地区的燃料占总吨位的三分之一以上。

Between 2001 and 2010, over half of American casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan occurred during land-transport missions,

在2001年和2010年间，在伊拉克和阿富汗超过一半的美军伤亡是在地面运输任务中发生的，

many involving fuel deliveries to remote outposts.

其中很多都是向边远哨所运送燃料。

Portable reactors could substitute for unreliable power grids⁷ or the generators⁸ that often take their place.

便携式反应堆可以替代不可靠的电网或取代它们的发电机。

America's armed forces use about 30 terawatt-hours of electricity per year— about the same as Ireland—

美国武装部队每年大约消耗30太瓦时的电力——与爱尔兰差不多——

and more than 35m litres of fuel per day. In 2016 a report by the Defence Science Board, a committee of experts,

以及每天超过3500万升的燃料。2016年，美国国防部科学委员会的一份报告

concluded that demand would surge as new power-hungry weapons, like lasers and rail-guns, come to maturity⁹.

总结到随着新型高功率武器，如激光和轨道炮的成熟，需求将会激增。

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

5 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

6 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

7 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

8 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 maturity   

n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期

参考例句：

• These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
• This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。