VOA标准英语2012--Obama to Pursue Nuclear Safety, Security, Nonproliferation at Summit

Obama to Pursue Nuclear Safety, Security, Nonproliferation at Summit

 

Keeping the world's nuclear weapons under control and out of the hands of terrorists are top goals for more than 50 leaders who will gather in the South Korean capital.

They hope to build on the commitments they made at the first Nuclear Security Summit, hosted by President Obama two years ago in Washington.

"Two decades after the end of the Cold War, we face a cruel irony¹ of history - the risk of a nuclear confrontation² between nations has gone down, but the risk of nuclear attack has gone up," he said then.

Keeping highly-enriched uranium away from terrorists is imperative³, says nuclear expert Joseph Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund. He spoke⁴ recently in New York at a forum⁵ hosted by The Korea Society.

"The number-one threat to the national security of the United States is nuclear terrorism, a group getting a bomb or the material with which to build a bomb and detonating it in the United States - a "nuclear 9/11," Cirincione said.

The heavily-guarded demilitarized zone along the border with nuclear-armed North Korea is also on Obama's agenda. He is expected to meet there with U.S. soldiers.

Pyongyang has denounced the summit as an "unpardonable crime" and an "intolerable grave provocation⁶."

North Korea's nuclear program raises fears in the West. But it will not be one of the summit's main agenda items, says Alexandra Toma, founder⁷ of the Fissile Materials Working Group. 

"There is no way you cannot not talk about North Korea, but I think that, certainly, Korean experts and the Korean government recognize that the Nuclear Security Summit is much more than that," Toma said.

The safety of nuclear power plants also will be a prominent topic of discussion in Seoul, especially after an earthquake and tsunami⁸ led to a nuclear plant meltdown last year in Japan.

At a recent discussion in Washington, Kenneth Luongo, president of the Partnership⁹ for Global Security, said the Fukushima disaster showed how much work must be done to improve nuclear power safety.

"And what Fukushima has highlighted for everybody, besides the fact that you can have a major nuclear accident in a highly developed country, is that we do not have an adequate system for dealing¹⁰ with radioactive dangers that cross border," Luongo said.

Before the summit itself, President Obama will meet individually with several other leaders, including Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Chinese President Hu Jintao. 

1 irony   

n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄

参考例句：

• She said to him with slight irony.她略带嘲讽地对他说。
• In her voice we could sense a certain tinge of irony.从她的声音里我们可以感到某种讥讽的意味。

2 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

3 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

6 provocation   

n.激怒，刺激，挑拨，挑衅的事物，激怒的原因

参考例句：

• He's got a fiery temper and flares up at the slightest provocation.他是火爆性子，一点就着。
• They did not react to this provocation.他们对这一挑衅未作反应。

7 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

8 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

9 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

10 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。