2006年VOA标准英语-Experts: North Korean Reactor Dreams More

By Kurt Achin
Seoul
05 January 2006

North Korea recently announced it no longer needs the United States to provide it with a light-water nuclear reactor¹ for energy production. The communist state says it will build one by itself. But North Korea experts have a long list of reasons why that plan is not feasible - and agree there are much better ways to ease the communist state's desperate power shortages.

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North Korea says it is ready to go it alone in building a light-water nuclear reactor for energy production - but experts say that will do nothing to address the country's urgent power needs.

"What North Korea really needs is a shipload of weather stripping [insulation material] to fix the holes in the windows in winter in the buildings where people are trying to survive," said Peter Hayes, director of the Nautilus Institute, which researches energy issues, in Melbourne. "A reactor is about the last thing you would turn to from an energy perspective."

North Korea's light-water reactor goals reach at least as far back as 1994, when the United States agreed to provide Pyongyang with two in exchange for a freeze of its existing nuclear program, which was capable of producing bombs.

Experts say light-water reactors² are much less likely to yield nuclear weapons material than the gas-graphite modified reactors North Korea already had.

Mr. Hayes says even back in 1994, U.S. and North Korean negotiators knew a light-water reactor could not alleviate³ Pyongyang's energy problems without billions of dollars being spent on new power lines.

"The reactors are too big, and the North Korean grid⁴ is too unreliable to safely run nuclear reactors, and if you tried to, they would simply turn themselves off," he said.

Experts say the 1994 Agreed Framework, as it is known, was mainly a political bargain. It aimed to get Pyongyang out of the nuclear weapons business while enticing⁵ it to end its isolation⁶ from the rest of the world.

However, the agreement broke down in 2002, when U.S. officials said North Korea admitted to secretly pursuing a second, uranium-based nuclear weapons program. Within months, North Korea expelled inspectors⁷ from the International Atomic Energy Agency, pulled out of the global Nonproliferation Treaty and restarted its graphite reactor.

North Korea has never publicly admitted to a uranium enrichment program, and says the United States is still legally obligated to provide it with reactors.

Daniel Pinkston, an expert on non-proliferation programs at California's Monterey Institute, says Pyongyang now faces a credibility dilemma⁸. He points out that North Korea's current graphite reactors are fueled by unenriched uranium, which the country has in abundance. However, light-water reactors, or LWRs, run on enriched uranium.

"Okay, you [North Korea] say you're going to build LWR's - and how are you going to fuel them? It's not plausible⁹ that they're going to build these on their own and say, 'Oh, we don't have an enrichment program, we're just going to buy the low enriched uranium fuel on the open market,'" said Mr. Pinkston. "That's not going to happen. And they know this."

Mr. Pinkston says if North Korea is serious about building its own light-water reactor, it must have a uranium enrichment program to fuel it without help from outside.

Experts also agree that even if North Korea did possess the know-how¹⁰ to build a light-water reactor - doing so would cost more than $2 billion.

That price tag is almost certainly too high for North Korea's economy, which is in tatters after decades of mismanagement. Hundreds of thousands of North Koreans are believed to have died of illnesses related to malnutrition¹¹ since the mid-1990s, and the country is still struggling to feed itself.

Mr. Hayes, of the Nautilus Institute, says the light-water reactor issue is mainly about national pride -especially since the original project was negotiated by North Korea's exalted¹² first leader. "It was blessed by Kim Il Sung," he said. "That was really symbolically¹³ very important to the North Koreans, and they don't, they can't, really, give that up."

Kim Il Sung died in 1994, and North Korea experts say his son, the current leader, Kim Jong Il, derives¹⁴ nearly all of his legitimacy¹⁵ from his father's legacy¹⁶.

Peter Beck, northeast Asia director for the International Crisis Group research organization, says the reactor issue may just be a way for Pyongyang to cling to nuclear weapons as a tool of international influence.

"It's just exhibit A, if you will, in North Korea's foot dragging," he said. "If the North really was willing to give up its weapons program, and provide the energy that it desperately¹⁷ needs, then it would drop its demand for the light-water reactors."

As part of its policy of engagement with North Korea, South Korea has already offered to provide its neighbor with large amounts of electricity, if Pyongyang gives up its nuclear weapons program.

Negotiators from the United States, Russia, China, Japan, and South Korea are expected to revisit that offer and the light-water reactor issue with North Korea when they hold another round of multinational¹⁸ talks.

The five nations have met with North Korea five times in an effort to persuade Pyongyang to give up its nuclear programs. So far, the talks have made little progress.

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 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

4 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

5 enticing   

adj.迷人的；诱人的

参考例句：

• The offer was too enticing to refuse. 这提议太有诱惑力，使人难以拒绝。
• Her neck was short but rounded and her arms plump and enticing. 她的脖子短，但浑圆可爱；两臂丰腴，也很动人。

6 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

7 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

9 plausible   

adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的

参考例句：

• His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
• Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。

10 know-how   

n.知识；技术；诀窍

参考例句：

• He hasn't got the know-how to run a farm.他没有经营农场的专业知识。
• I don't have much know-how about engines.发动机方面的技术知识我知之甚少。

11 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

12 exalted   

adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的

参考例句：

• Their loveliness and holiness in accordance with their exalted station.他们的美丽和圣洁也与他们的崇高地位相称。
• He received respect because he was a person of exalted rank.他因为是个地位崇高的人而受到尊敬。

13 symbolically   

ad.象征地，象征性地

参考例句：

• By wearing the ring on the third finger of the left hand, a married couple symbolically declares their eternal love for each other. 将婚戒戴在左手的第三只手指上，意味着夫妻双方象征性地宣告他们的爱情天长地久，他们定能白头偕老。
• Symbolically, he coughed to clear his throat. 周经理象征地咳一声无谓的嗽，清清嗓子。

14 derives   

v.得到( derive的第三人称单数 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• English derives in the main from the common Germanic stock. 英语主要源于日耳曼语系。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derives his income from freelance work. 他以自由职业获取收入。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

16 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

17 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

18 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。