首页
登录
职称英语
Nuclear power has become an important source of energy in several countries,
Nuclear power has become an important source of energy in several countries,
游客
2023-12-11
60
管理
问题
Nuclear power has become an important source of energy in several countries, especially in Europe and Japan. Nuclear power supplies one-third of all electricity in Europe, including two- thirds in Belgium and France, one-half in Hungary and Sweden, and one-third in Finland, Germany, Spain, and Switzerland. Outside of Europe,’ Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan also rely on nuclear power for much of their electricity.
The United States and Canada are less dependent than Europeans on nuclear energy, in part because of more abundant coal reserves. Nuclear power generates approximately 20 percent of the electricity in North America as a whole; with New England drawing most of its electricity from nuclear power.
Five interrelated problems severely restrict the use of nuclear power instead of coal to generate electricity. The first problem associated with nuclear power is the danger of an accident. A nuclear power plant produces electricity from energy released by splitting uranium atoms in a controlled environment, a process known as fission. One of the products in a nuclear reaction is radioactive waste, which is lethal to people: exposed to it. Elaborate safety precautions must be taken to prevent the fuel from leaking out of the power plant.
The second problem with nuclear power is the need to store waste products following the reaction. The spent fuel and other radioactive waste products must be stored for several thousand years, until they are no longer lethal. But no country has devised an effective storage system for the radioactive waste products.
The third problem with nuclear power is that a bomb can be made from the material. Nuclear power has been used in warfare twice.
Even if we are confident that government will not use nuclear weapons, can we be as confident about terrorist organizations? Terrorists could steal a small amount of nuclear fuel and construct their own nuclear weapons. A few years ago, a Princeton undergraduate wrote a term paper that outlined how to make a nuclear weapon. He was accused at first of leaking government secrets, but the student showed that most of his information came from the encyclopedia and a few unclassified government documents. Following publicity about the term paper, several organizations and foreign governments contacted the student for technical assistance in making a bomb.
A fourth problem with nuclear power is the scarcity of uranium. Like the fossil fuels, uranium ore is a nonrenewable resource, and proven reserves will be depleted in less than a century at the current rate of use. Proven uranium reserves are not distributed uniformly across the earth’s surface. The United States, Canada, South Africa, Australia, and the former Soviet Union rank among the world’ s leaders. One-fifth of the world’ s proven reserves are concentrated in South Africa, but access to that supply is uncertain because of the country’s racial problems.
The final problem with using nuclear power is its high cost. Nuclear power plants cost several billion dollars to build, primarily because of elaborate safety measures. Without double- and triple-backup systems, nuclear energy would be too dangerous to use. As a result, the cost of generating electricity is much higher from nuclear plants than from coal plants.
The future of nuclear power has been seriously hurt by the combination of high risks and costs. Most countries in North America and Western Europe have curtailed construction of new plants. Sweden, which received nearly half of its electricity from nuclear power in the t980s, plans to begin’ shutting plants by 1995 and to abandon its nuclear power plants completely by the year 2010. [br] The Princeton undergraduate’s incident shows that ______.
选项
A、Princeton is a prestigious university indeed
B、the technology of making a nuclear bomb is within easy reach
C、some organizations wish to give Princeton students financial help
D、the student is a rare genius
答案
B
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3265052.html
相关试题推荐
Severalyearsago,webeganconstructiononanewchurchbuilding.Inth
Severalyearsago,webeganconstructiononanewchurchbuilding.Inth
Severalyearsago,webeganconstructiononanewchurchbuilding.Inth
Severalyearsago,webeganconstructiononanewchurchbuilding.Inth
Severalyearsago,webeganconstructiononanewchurchbuilding.Inth
MobyDickisthemostimportantworkbyA、JackLondon.B、HermanMelville.C、Sincl
Themostimportant______magazinesinBritainareTheEconomist,TheNewStatesma
______and______arethemostimportantnaturalresourcesinNewZealand.A、natura
WhatisthemostimportanteconomicactivityinCanada?A、Manufacturing.B、Farmin
CollegesintheUnitedStatesdependonthreesourcesofincomeEXCEPTA、student
随机试题
那个年轻人宁愿继续干他在公司的信息技术工作,也不愿去考研。Theyoungmanwouldrathergoontakingtheinforma
Astheplacecircledovertheairport,everyonesensedthatsomethingwaswr
[originaltext]Tea-drinkingwascommoninChinafornearlyonethousandyear
[originaltext](20-1)BynowyoumayhaveheardTaylorSwift’sheartbreakin
施工项目质量计划是指确定施工项目的质量目标、实现质量目标规定必要的作业过程、专门
不动产可以根据其开发程度进行划分,以下关于此类划分标准相关内容的说法中,错误的有
《公开募集证券投资基金运作管理办法》规定:封闭式基金的收益分配,每年不得少于一次
我国财政补贴有()和企业亏损补贴等补贴项目。A.土地补贴 B.现金补贴 C
管桩下沉位移的允许偏差为:在岸滩上用导向结构下沉的管桩群顶面中心,()。A.顺桥
对于高压管道及输送剧毒流体的管道,试压前应建立和审查的资料包括()。A.管
最新回复
(
0
)