首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
In the United States, there is some disagreement (to say the least) over the risks and benefits .of nuclear power. There can be
In the United States, there is some disagreement (to say the least) over the risks and benefits .of nuclear power. There can be
admin
2011-02-11
86
问题
In the United States, there is some disagreement (to say the least) over the risks and benefits .of nuclear power. There can be no question that with our electrical power needs increasing rapidly, we cannot rely indefinitely on the earth’s remaining fossil fuel supply. The question is, can we safely shift our reliance to nuclear fission power plants—considering the present state of our knowledge and technology? The American public has, in the past few years, developed a rather strong consensus regarding this question. Nuclear power has fallen into disfavor. The risks seem too great, the reward too small—at least for the immediate future.
It is not likely that an explosion of the type produced by atomic bombs can occur in the kinds of nuclear reactors being used today. However, we still don’t know how close we came to a major tragedy at Three Mile Island. A far greater tragedy occurred at a nuclear plant at Chernobyl, in the Soviet Union’s Ukraine in 1986. The risks associated with nuclear power, however, are not always so spectacular. Some are of a far subtler nature. For example, radioactivity could be released into the environment from activities related to mining and processing nuclear fuel, from the transportation and recycling of the fuel and from storage of the radioactive wastes. We frequently hear of steam or gas leaks from the reactors themselves. ;And even the safest reactors normally leak small amounts of radiation into their immediate environment. (The problem with this is that there are no "safe" levels of radioactivity--only "acceptable" levels. )
We could probably greatly reduce the risks associated with nuclear power by simply exercising more care and common sense. There are numerous published accounts that attest to our carelessness, however. For example, it has been revealed that the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in California was built on an earthquake fault line. At the WNP-2 plant in Washington State, the concrete contained air bubbles and pockets of water as well as shields that had been incorrectly welded. In 1981, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission inspected forty-three plants that were under construction and rated seven "below average" and thirty-six "average". None were rated even "above average".
Completely apart from the possibility of accidents, there is the unsolved problem of what to do with the radioactive wastes generated in the course of normal nuclear plant reactions. The problem is a tough one since such wastes can only be rendered safe by the passage of time. The waste radioactivity is .generated in the fuel system of the reactors because only a part of the fuel is fissionable and, for technical reasons, not all of the fissionable elements are spent. Much of the spent fuel materials removed from the reactor can be reused. However, some of the radioactive fuel in the spent elements cannot be removed, and this material adds to the radioactive waste.
We have already generated over 10,000 tons of nuclear waste, with another 47,000 tons expected by 19951 Most of the waste is in the form of fuel rods which are, for now, stored in baths filled with a solution of neutron-absorbing boric acid. The problem is that these are only temporary repositories and,’ unless new space is found, existing plants must begin closing for lack of space. The rods can be reprocessed, but the technology could lead to the fuel for nuclear weapons.
The reprocessing also leaves "high-level liquid waste" that must be stored. The prevailing idea at the moment is to dry the liquid and mix it with molten glass that, when it hardens, can be stored in tanks. Suggestions range from burying it in the Antarctic to sending it into space.
Which of the following risks occurs most frequently at nuclear power plants?
选项
A、Leakage of untreated nuclear wastes.
B、Explosions.
C、Earthquakes.
D、Gas or steam leaks.
答案
D
解析
此题旨在考查考生对文章中所叙述事实的记忆。第二段中作者主要讨论了核泄漏问题,并举例来证明这是目前核能使用存在的一个大问题。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/vsYO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
Althoughthedistributionofrecordedmusicwentdigitalwiththeintroductionofthecompactdiscintheearly1980s,technolog
Writeacommentofabout400wordsonthefollowingtopic:TheDifferencesbetweenHumanBeingsandAnimals
Weallknowthatprogramminglanguageisthesystemofsyntax,grammar,andsymbolsorwordsusedtogiveinstructionstoacomp
Insomespeechcommunity,twolanguagesareusedsidebysidewitheachhavingadifferentroletoplay,thisis______.
Mostpeoplecanrememberaphonenumberforuptothirtyseconds.Whenthisshortamountoftimeelapses,however,thenumbersa
AftersomanyyearsofstudyingEnglish,youmaystillgetconfusedlikeyoufirstcomeherejustbecauseoftheslangthestude
TheFederalGovernmentsthecentralgovernmentoftheUnitedStates.Itisdividedintothreebranches:theExecutive,theLegi
WhenGermanyinvadedPoland,BritainandFrancedeclaredwaronGermany.ThentheU.S【1】______indebate.
Historicaldevelopmentsofthepasthalfcenturyandtheinventionofmoderntelecommunicationandtransportationtechnologiesh
______isconsideredasthefounderofAmericandrama.
随机试题
基因污染指原生物种基因库非预期或不受控制的基因流动,即外源基因通过转基因作物、外来入侵物种、家养动物等扩散到其他栽培作物或自然野生物种并成为后者基因的一部分。根据上述定义,下列没有体现出基因污染的是:
淹溺者心脏骤停的原因
根据《建设工程安全生产管理条例》的规定,注册执业人员未执行法律、法规和工程建设强制性标准,情节严重的,吊销执业资格证书,()不予注册;造成重大安全事故的,终身不予注册;构成犯罪的,依照刑法有关规定追究刑事责任。
基坑边坡土内含水愈多,湿化程度越高,边坡越容易失去稳定,是因为土的()造成的。
《商业银行个人理财业务管理暂行办法》规定个人理财业务从业人员每年的培训时间应不少于()小时。
根据所给资料,回答以下问题。下列调查网民数中,人数最为相近的是:
道德修养的根本途径是
解决台湾问题、实现祖国完全统一,是全体中华儿女共同愿望,是中华民族根本利益所在。党的十八大以来,在以习近平同志为核心的党中央坚强领导下,在两岸同胞共同努力下,两岸关系取得重要积极成果。两岸关系和平发展的政治基础是
阅读以下说明和C++代码,将解答写入对应栏内。【说明】请编写一个函数intSeqSearch(intlist[],intstart,intn,intkey),该函数从start开始,在大小为n的数组list中查找key值,返回最先找到的
BeijingOperaisalsocalledPekingOpera.Itcameintobeingafter1790whenthefamousfourAnhuioperatroupes(戏班)cametoB
最新回复
(
0
)