- Published on
美国发展核电的真正阻碍
- Authors
如今，核能处于一个奇怪的位置。那些担心气候变化的人已经认识到核能的重要性。
双语精读
Nuclear power is in a strange position today. Those who worry about climate change have come to see that it is essential.
如今，核能处于一个奇怪的位置。那些担心气候变化的人已经认识到核能的重要性。
The warming clock is ticking-another sort of countdown-and replacing fossil fuels is much easier with nuclear power in the equation.
全球变暖的时钟正在滴答作响——这是另一种倒计时——有了核能，把化石燃料替换掉就会容易很多。
And yet the industry, in many respects, looks unready to step into a major role. It has consistently flopped as a commercial proposition.
然而，从许多方面来看，核能行业似乎还没有准备好去担当重任。作为一项商业提议，它屡屡失败。
Decade after decade, it has broken its promises to deliver new plants on budget and on time, and, despite an enviable safety record, it has failed to put to rest the public's fear of catastrophic accidents.
十年又十年，该行业未能按承诺在预算内按时交付新核电站，而且，尽管有着令人羡慕的安全记录，但核能行业仍未消除公众对灾难性事故的恐惧。
Many of the industry's best minds know they need a new approach, and soon. For inspiration, some have turned toward SpaceX, Tesla, and Apple.
许多业内最具才智的人知道他们需要一种新方法，而且要尽快。为了寻找灵感，一些人把目光转向了SpaceX、特斯拉和苹果。
"Yeah, we were a bit crazy to try to do this," Per Peterson, Kairos's co-founder and chief nuclear officer, told me when I asked about starting a company from scratch and setting out to make the nuclear industry agile and competitive.
“是的，我们尝试这么做有点疯狂。”当我问及如何从零开始创办一家公司，力图使核能行业变得灵活、具有竞争力时，卡伊洛斯电力公司的联合创始人兼首席核能官佩尔·彼得森这样说。
"But I don't remember ever lacking the confidence that it was feasible for us to do what we wanted to do." The fate of the industry, and in some measure the planet, depends on whether he and like-minded entrepreneurs can finally keep their promises.
“但在我的记忆中，我从来没有对我们想做的事是否可行缺乏信心。”这个行业的命运，以及在某种程度上整个地球的命运，都取决于他以及志同道合的企业家们最终能否信守承诺。
When I started reporting this article, I imagined it might be a diatribe against the environmental movement's resistance to nuclear power. For a generation or more, the United States has been fighting climate change-and all the other ills that result from fossil fuels-with one hand tied behind its back.
当我开始报道这篇文章时，我想象这可能是对环保运动抵制核能的抨击。在整整一代人或更长的时间里，美国一直都是在被束缚住了手脚的情况下与气候变化——以及所有其他由化石燃料引起的问题——进行斗争。
Bruce Babbitt, a former secretary of the interior and governor of Arizona, was on a presidential commission to evaluate nuclear power after the Three Mile Island plant's partial meltdown in 1979, the U.S. industry's worst accident.
曾任内政部长和亚利桑那州州长的布鲁斯·巴比特在1979年三哩岛核电站部分熔毁(美国核电行业最严重的事故)后，加入了评估核电的总统委员会。
Though no one died or was even injured-and the accident led to new protocols and training under which the plant's second, intact reactor operated uneventfully until 2019-the accident hardened the public and environmentalists against nuclear energy.
尽管没有人死亡，甚至没有人受伤——而且这次事故还催生了新的规约与培训，在此之下，核电站第二座完好无损的反应堆直到2019年都安然无恙地运行着——但这次事故使公众和环保人士更加反对核能。
After that, as Babbitt told me, "opposition in the environmental community was near unanimous. The position was 'No new nuclear plants, and we should phase out the existing nuclear base.'"
在那之后，正如巴比特告诉我的，“环保界对核能的反对意见几乎一致。他们的立场是‘不要新建核电站，应该逐步淘汰现有的核基地’。”
Which was the road the U.S. took. Today legacy nuclear power supplies about 20 percent of American electricity, but the country has fired up only one new power reactor since 1996.
这就是美国选择的道路。如今，之前遗留下来的核电为美国提供了约20%的电力，但自1996年以来，美国仅启动了一座新的核电反应堆。
词汇预习
despite [高考]
美[dɪˈspaɪt] | 英[dɪˈspaɪt]
prep. 尽管；不管 n. 憎恨；轻视
essential [高考]
美[ɪˈsenʃl] | 英[ɪˈsenʃl]
adj. 本质的；必要的；重要的 n. 要素；必需品
inspiration [高考]
美[ˌɪnspəˈreɪʃn] | 英[ˌɪnspəˈreɪʃn]
n. 灵感；鼓舞人心(的东西)；吸气
competitive [高考]
美[kəmˈpetətɪv] | 英[kəmˈpetətɪv]
adj. 竞争的；有竞争力的；胜过或超过他人的
reactor [高考]
美[riˈæktɚ] | 英[riˈæktə(r)]
n. 反应者；反应堆
founder [高考]
美[ˈfaʊndɚ] | 英[ˈfaʊndə(r)]
n. 创立者 v. 摔倒；失败；沉没；弄跛
fossil [高考]
美[ˈfɑːsl] | 英[ˈfɒsl]
n. 化石；食古不化的人；守旧的事物
consistently [高考]
美[kənˈsɪstəntlɪ] | 英[kən'sɪstəntlɪ]
adv. 一贯地，始终；一致地
fate [高考]
美[feɪt] | 英[feɪt]
n. 命运，宿命 vt. 注定
governor [高考]
美[ˈɡʌvərnər] | 英[ˈɡʌvənə(r)]
n. 统治者；管理者；理事；州长；总督；调节器
opposition [高考]
美[ˌɑːpəˈzɪʃn] | 英[ˌɒpəˈzɪʃn]
n. 反对；敌对；在野党
resistance [高考]
美[rɪˈzɪstəns] | 英[rɪˈzɪstəns]
n. 抵抗；抵触；反对；阻力 n. [电]阻抗
interior [高考]
美[ɪnˈtɪriər] | 英[ɪnˈtɪəriə(r)]
adj. 内地的；国内的；内部的 n. 内部；内在
legacy [高考]
美[ˈleɡəsi] | 英[ˈleɡəsi]
n. 遗赠物；先人或过去遗留下来的东西 adj. [计算机]旧系统的
nuclear [高考]
美[ˈnuːkliər] | 英[ˈnjuːkliə(r)]
adj. 原子核的；原子能的；核心的
approach [高考]
美[əˈproʊtʃ] | 英[əˈprəʊtʃ]
v. 接近；建议；接洽；着手处理 n. 方法；接近；路径；道路
generation [高考]
美[ˌdʒenəˈreɪʃn] | 英[ˌdʒenəˈreɪʃn]
n. 一代（人）；一代人的时间；（产品发展的）代；产生
decade [高考]
美[ˈdekeɪd] | 英[ˈdekeɪd]
n. 十年，十年间，十年期（尤指一个年代)
deliver [高考]
美[dɪˈlɪvər] | 英[dɪˈlɪvə(r)]
v. 递送；发表（演讲）；交付；解救；生（孩子）；接生；履行；投掷
former [高考]
美[ˈfɔːrmər] | 英[ˈfɔːmə(r)]
adj. 前者的；前任的；以前的 n. 创造者；[英]学校某一年级的学生
commercial [高考]
美[kəˈmɜːrʃl] | 英[kəˈmɜːʃl]
adj. 商业的 n. 商业广告
evaluate [高考]
美[ɪˈvæljueɪt] | 英[ɪˈvæljueɪt]
vt. 评价；评估
chief [高考]
美[tʃiːf] | 英[tʃiːf]
adj. 主要的；首要的 n. 首领
budget [高考]
美[ˈbʌdʒɪt] | 英[ˈbʌdʒɪt]
n. 预算 vt. 编预算；为 ... 做预算 vi. 节省开支 adj. 廉价的；不贵的
result from [高考]
美[rɪˈzʌlt frəm] | 英[rɪˈzʌlt frəm]
起因于
setting [高考]
美[ˈsetɪŋ] | 英[ˈsetɪŋ]
n. 背景；环境；镶嵌；安装；放置；（日月的）沉落；[音]乐曲
phase [高考]
美[feɪz] | 英[feɪz]
n. 相位；方面；局面；阶段；时期 vt. 逐步执行
commission [高考]
美[kəˈmɪʃn] | 英[kəˈmɪʃn]
v. 正式委托；任命…为军官 n. 委员会；佣金，手续费；正式委托; 犯（罪）
intact [高考]
美[ɪnˈtækt] | 英[ɪnˈtækt]
adj. 完好无缺的；原封不动的；未经触碰的
partial [高考]
美[ˈpɑːrʃl] | 英[ˈpɑːʃl]
adj. 不完全的；部分的；偏袒的；偏爱的
broken [高考]
美[ˈbroʊkən] | 英[ˈbrəʊkən]
adj. 弄坏的；破碎的
feasible [四级]
美[ˈfiːzəbl] | 英[ˈfiːzəbl]
adj. 可行的；可能的
equation [四级]
美[ɪˈkweɪʒn] | 英[ɪˈkweɪʒn]
n. 相等；均衡；方程式；等式
presidential [四级]
美[ˌprɛzɪˈdɛnʃəl] | 英[ˌprezɪ'denʃl]
adj. 总统的；总统制的
meltdown [四级]
美[ˈmeltdaʊn] | 英[ˈmeltdaʊn]
n. 熔毁；灾难；崩溃
proposition [四级]
美[ˌprɑːpəˈzɪʃn] | 英[ˌprɒpəˈzɪʃn]
n. 提议；事业；命题 vt. 向 ... 调情
come to [四级]
美[kʌm tu] | 英[kʌm tu]
v. 总计；苏醒；到达；突然想起
see that [四级]
美[si ðæt] | 英[si: ðæt]
注意, 务必, 保证
resistance to [四级]
美[rɪˈzɪstəns tu] | 英[riˈzistəns tu:]
对 ... 的阻力
phase out [四级]
美[feɪz aʊt] | 英[feɪz aʊt]
逐渐停止； 逐步淘汰
existing [四级]
美[ɪɡˈzɪstɪŋ] | 英[ɪɡˈzɪstɪŋ]
adj. 现存的；现有的
catastrophic [六级]
美[ ˌkætəˈstrɑːfɪk] | 英[ ˌkætəˈstrɒfɪk]
adj. 灾难的；灾难性的
unanimous [六级]
美[juˈnænɪməs] | 英[juˈnænɪməs]
adj. 全体一致的；一致同意的
put to [六级]
美[pʊt tu] | 英[put tu:]
提出（问题）； （船只顺避风等而）靠岸
agile [专八]
美[ˈædʒl] | 英[ˈædʒaɪl]
adj.（动作）敏捷的；灵活的；（头脑）机灵的
enviable [专八]
美[ˈɛnviəbəl] | 英[ˈenviəbl]
adj. 令人欣羡的；可羡慕的
don [托福]
美[dɑn] | 英[dɒn]
n. 先生（西班牙用语）；(牛津、剑桥大学的)指导教师 v. 穿上
重点讲解
Nuclear power is in a strange position today. Those who worry about climate change have come to see that it is essential.
如今，核能处于一个奇怪的位置。那些担心气候变化的人已经认识到核能的重要性。
position n.
1. 位置；地方
【例】the best position for the flowers
最适合放花的地方
【近义词】place/spot n. 地方
2. 处境
Her careless remark put her husband in an embarrassing position.
她说话不注意，使她丈夫的处境变得非常尴尬。
【近义词】situation n. 处境；地位
equation n. 等式；多种因素的综合体
【例】The tourist industry forms a crucial part of the region's economic equation.
旅游业是该地区经济中的一个关键部分。
When children enter the equation, further tensions may arise within a marriage.
有了孩子之后，婚姻中可能会出现更多紧张情况。
The warming clock is ticking—another sort of countdown—and replacing fossil fuels is much easier with nuclear power in the equation.
全球变暖的时钟正在滴答作响——这是另一种倒计时——有了核能，把化石燃料替换掉就会容易很多。
position n.
1. 位置；地方
【例】the best position for the flowers
最适合放花的地方
【近义词】place/spot n. 地方
2. 处境
Her careless remark put her husband in an embarrassing position.
她说话不注意，使她丈夫的处境变得非常尴尬。
【近义词】situation n. 处境；地位
equation n. 等式；多种因素的综合体
【例】The tourist industry forms a crucial part of the region's economic equation.
旅游业是该地区经济中的一个关键部分。
When children enter the equation, further tensions may arise within a marriage.
有了孩子之后，婚姻中可能会出现更多紧张情况。
And yet the industry, in many respects, looks unready to step into a major role. It has consistently flopped as a commercial proposition.
然而，从许多方面来看，核能行业似乎还没有准备好去担当重任。作为一项商业提议，它屡屡失败。
proposition n. （业务上的）提议，建议
【例】make sb a proposition
向某人提生意上的建议
an attractive/a losing proposition
（计划中的）诱人的生意/亏本的生意
enviable adj. 引起嫉妒的；令人羡慕的
【例】Now he was in the enviable position of not having to work for a living.
现在他不用为了养活自己而工作，真令人羡慕。
【拓展】envy v. 嫉妒
put sth to rest 平息；使停止
【例】The announcement put all the speculation to rest.
通知的发布终于平息了所有猜测。
【拓展】give it a rest 别再说了
Decade after decade, it has broken its promises to deliver new plants on budget and on time, and, despite an enviable safety record, it has failed to put to rest the public’s fear of catastrophic accidents.
十年又十年，该行业未能按承诺在预算内按时交付新核电站，而且，尽管有着令人羡慕的安全记录，但核能行业仍未消除公众对灾难性事故的恐惧。
proposition n. （业务上的）提议，建议
【例】make sb a proposition
向某人提生意上的建议
an attractive/a losing proposition
（计划中的）诱人的生意/亏本的生意
enviable adj. 引起嫉妒的；令人羡慕的
【例】Now he was in the enviable position of not having to work for a living.
现在他不用为了养活自己而工作，真令人羡慕。
【拓展】envy v. 嫉妒
put sth to rest 平息；使停止
【例】The announcement put all the speculation to rest.
通知的发布终于平息了所有猜测。
【拓展】give it a rest 别再说了
Many of the industry’s best minds know they need a new approach, and soon. For inspiration, some have turned toward SpaceX, Tesla, and Apple.
许多业内最具才智的人知道他们需要一种新方法，而且要尽快。为了寻找灵感，一些人把目光转向了SpaceX、特斯拉和苹果。
mind n. 聪明的人；某一领域的优秀人才
【例】the mathematical minds
有数学才华的人
I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness.
我看见这一代最杰出的头脑毁于疯狂。（艾伦·金斯伯格的诗歌《嚎叫》）
do sth from scratch 从头开始做某事
【例】I learned German from scratch in six months.
我从零学起，六个月学会了德语。
set out to do 怀着目标开始做某事
【例】She set out to break the world record.
她怀着打破世界纪录的目标开始了。
in some measure 在某种程度上
【例】It is in some measure true to say that we don't work hard enough.
说我们工作不够努力在一定程度上是真的。
【拓展】a measure of sth 一定量的；一些
【例】A measure of technical knowledge is desirable in this job.
做这项工作最好懂一些技术知识。
“Yeah, we were a bit crazy to try to do this,” Per Peterson, Kairos’s co-founder and chief nuclear officer, told me when I asked about starting a company from scratch and setting out to make the nuclear industry agile and competitive.
“是的，我们尝试这么做有点疯狂。”当我问及如何从零开始创办一家公司，力图使核能行业变得灵活、具有竞争力时，卡伊洛斯电力公司的联合创始人兼首席核能官佩尔·彼得森这样说。
mind n. 聪明的人；某一领域的优秀人才
【例】the mathematical minds
有数学才华的人
I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness.
我看见这一代最杰出的头脑毁于疯狂。（艾伦·金斯伯格的诗歌《嚎叫》）
do sth from scratch 从头开始做某事
【例】I learned German from scratch in six months.
我从零学起，六个月学会了德语。
set out to do 怀着目标开始做某事
【例】She set out to break the world record.
她怀着打破世界纪录的目标开始了。
in some measure 在某种程度上
【例】It is in some measure true to say that we don't work hard enough.
说我们工作不够努力在一定程度上是真的。
【拓展】a measure of sth 一定量的；一些
【例】A measure of technical knowledge is desirable in this job.
做这项工作最好懂一些技术知识。
“But I don’t remember ever lacking the confidence that it was feasible for us to do what we wanted to do.” The fate of the industry, and in some measure the planet, depends on whether he and like-minded entrepreneurs can finally keep their promises.
“但在我的记忆中，我从来没有对我们想做的事是否可行缺乏信心。”这个行业的命运，以及在某种程度上整个地球的命运，都取决于他以及志同道合的企业家们最终能否信守承诺。
mind n. 聪明的人；某一领域的优秀人才
【例】the mathematical minds
有数学才华的人
I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness.
我看见这一代最杰出的头脑毁于疯狂。（艾伦·金斯伯格的诗歌《嚎叫》）
do sth from scratch 从头开始做某事
【例】I learned German from scratch in six months.
我从零学起，六个月学会了德语。
set out to do 怀着目标开始做某事
【例】She set out to break the world record.
她怀着打破世界纪录的目标开始了。
in some measure 在某种程度上
【例】It is in some measure true to say that we don't work hard enough.
说我们工作不够努力在一定程度上是真的。
【拓展】a measure of sth 一定量的；一些
【例】A measure of technical knowledge is desirable in this job.
做这项工作最好懂一些技术知识。
When I started reporting this article, I imagined it might be a diatribe against the environmental movement’s resistance to nuclear power. For a generation or more, the United States has been fighting climate change—and all the other ills that result from fossil fuels—with one hand tied behind its back.
当我开始报道这篇文章时，我想象这可能是对环保运动抵制核能的抨击。在整整一代人或更长的时间里，美国一直都是在被束缚住了手脚的情况下与气候变化——以及所有其他由化石燃料引起的问题——进行斗争。
ill n. 问题；弊端
【例】social/economic ills 社会/经济弊病
【近义词】plague n. 瘟疫；严重的问题
【例】the plague of war 战祸
meltdown n. 核反应堆的熔毁；崩溃
【例】the meltdown on the stock market
股市崩盘
Bruce Babbitt, a former secretary of the interior and governor of Arizona, was on a presidential commission to evaluate nuclear power after the Three Mile Island plant’s partial meltdown in 1979, the U.S. industry’s worst accident.
曾任内政部长和亚利桑那州州长的布鲁斯·巴比特在1979年三哩岛核电站部分熔毁(美国核电行业最严重的事故)后，加入了评估核电的总统委员会。
ill n. 问题；弊端
【例】social/economic ills 社会/经济弊病
【近义词】plague n. 瘟疫；严重的问题
【例】the plague of war 战祸
meltdown n. 核反应堆的熔毁；崩溃
【例】the meltdown on the stock market
股市崩盘
Though no one died or was even injured—and the accident led to new protocols and training under which the plant’s second, intact reactor operated uneventfully until 2019—the accident hardened the public and environmentalists against nuclear energy.
尽管没有人死亡，甚至没有人受伤——而且这次事故还催生了新的规约与培训，在此之下，核电站第二座完好无损的反应堆直到2019年都安然无恙地运行着——但这次事故使公众和环保人士更加反对核能。
harden v. 使变坚硬；使更坚定
【例】His mother's words hardened him in his determination to leave home.
他妈妈的话坚定了他离开家乡的决心。
【拓展】soften sb towards... 让某人对……的态度变得温和
unanimous adj. 意见一致的
【例】be unanimous in sth 对某事意见一致
unanimous approval/support 一致同意/拥护
phase out 逐步停止；逐步废除
【例】Subsidies will be phased out by next year.
补贴将在明年之前逐步废除。
【反义词】phase in 逐步引入；逐步实施
After that, as Babbitt told me, “opposition in the environmental community was near unanimous. The position was ‘No new nuclear plants, and we should phase out the existing nuclear base.’”
在那之后，正如巴比特告诉我的，“环保界对核能的反对意见几乎一致。他们的立场是‘不要新建核电站，应该逐步淘汰现有的核基地’。”
harden v. 使变坚硬；使更坚定
【例】His mother's words hardened him in his determination to leave home.
他妈妈的话坚定了他离开家乡的决心。
【拓展】soften sb towards... 让某人对……的态度变得温和
unanimous adj. 意见一致的
【例】be unanimous in sth 对某事意见一致
unanimous approval/support 一致同意/拥护
phase out 逐步停止；逐步废除
【例】Subsidies will be phased out by next year.
补贴将在明年之前逐步废除。
【反义词】phase in 逐步引入；逐步实施
Which was the road the U.S. took. Today legacy nuclear power supplies about 20 percent of American electricity, but the country has fired up only one new power reactor since 1996.
这就是美国选择的道路。如今，之前遗留下来的核电为美国提供了约20%的电力，但自1996年以来，美国仅启动了一座新的核电反应堆。
harden v. 使变坚硬；使更坚定
【例】His mother's words hardened him in his determination to leave home.
他妈妈的话坚定了他离开家乡的决心。
【拓展】soften sb towards... 让某人对……的态度变得温和
unanimous adj. 意见一致的
【例】be unanimous in sth 对某事意见一致
unanimous approval/support 一致同意/拥护
phase out 逐步停止；逐步废除
【例】Subsidies will be phased out by next year.
补贴将在明年之前逐步废除。
【反义词】phase in 逐步引入；逐步实施
课后练习
Why is the nuclear power industry in a strange position?
A. Because nuclear power is cleaner, but also less efficient than fossil fuels.
B. Because it generates huge emissions while building new plants.
C. Because it has failed to play its crucial role in reducing greenhouse gases.
D. Because it has spent decades building nuclear power plants.
What is the public's fear regarding the nuclear power industry?
A. The high cost.
B. The heavy pollution.
C. The disastrous accidents.
D. The long construction time.
What was the impact of the Three Mile Island accident?
A. It caused heavy casualties and harmful radiations.
B. It resulted in the breakdown of the second reactor.
C. It caused significant damage to the surrounding environment.
D. It increased the public’s opposition to nuclear energy.
Which of the following is true about the nuclear plants in America?
A. America has shut down of all of its nuclear power plants.
B. America has curbed the building of nuclear plants.
C. America has tried to resolve the safety issue of nuclear power.
D. America has increased the production of nuclear energy.