VOA常速英语2013--美俄结束核转换项目

 

US-Russian Nuclear Conversion¹ 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 Soviet² 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 kilowatts³ 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 celebrated⁴ the long-running partnership⁵, 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 joint⁶ 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 helping⁷ 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。

1 conversion   

n.转化，转换，转变

参考例句：

• He underwent quite a conversion.他彻底变了。
• Waste conversion is a part of the production process.废物处理是生产过程的一个组成部分。

2 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

3 kilowatts   

千瓦( kilowatt的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It's about 500 kilowatts per hour on average. 年用电量平均为每小时500千瓦。 来自商贸英语会话
• We have an emergency-standby electric generator with a capacity of 300 kilowatts. 我们有一台三百千瓦的事故备用发电机。

4 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

5 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。

6 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。