VOA常速英语2013--美俄结束核转换项目（在线收听）

US-Russian Nuclear Conversion Program Ends 美俄结束核转换项目

WASHINGTON — Uranium converted from Russian nuclear warheads has provided an estimated 10 percent of U.S. electric power in recent years. The 20-year "Megatons to  Megawatts" program has come to an end.

Americans once lived in fear of the Soviet nuclear missiles that were aimed at them.

美国人曾一度生活在苏维埃瞄准他们核武器的恐慌之中。

For the past two decades, however, almost 20,000 of those Russian warheads have provided highly enriched uranium.

然而在过去的20年间，约有20,000个俄国弹头为铀浓缩提供了原料。

It was converted to low-enriched uranium that America's nuclear power plants have used as fuel.

这是美国核工厂用作燃料的低浓度铀。

The "Megatons to Megawatts" program is the result of a 1993 agreement between the two countries,这一《百万吨核弹换百万瓦核电》是两国于1993年所签署的协议，in which  Russia turned 500 metric tons of weapons-grade uranium to fuel for nuclear power plants and sold it to U.S. commercial energy producers for a total of $17 billion.

其中俄国将500标准吨的武器级别铀转变为核武器工厂的燃料，并以170亿美元的价格卖给美国经济能源制作商们。

The final shipment arrived this week in the port of Baltimore, Maryland, from St. Petersburg, Russia.

就是这从俄国圣彼得堡运送而来的最后一单本周在马里兰州的巴尔的摩港口交付完毕。

The uranium provided seven trillion kilowatts of energy-enough to light the entire United States for two years.

这些提供了7万亿瓦特能源的铀足以让整个美国灯火通明2年多。

At the Russian embassy in Washington, both countries celebrated the long-running partnership, which U.S. Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman called "the most  successful nonproliferation agreement in the history of the world."而在俄国驻华盛顿大使馆，两国共同庆祝长久以来的合作关系，美国副能源部长丹尼尔·菲尼曼称其为“世界史上 最成功的防止核扩散协议。”

He said more joint projects are to come.

他表示即将开始一系列衍生项目。

"We are now talking about how to build on the new measures we've put into place to establish a new baseline for further cooperation," he said.

“我们现在正在商讨就如何建立未来合作我们应采取何种方法，”他说道。

Russia and the United States will work together on nuclear technology, atomic energy, and helping other countries dispose of their nuclear materials.

俄罗斯和美国将在核技术，原子能上共同协作，并且帮助其他国家处理核材料。