4月25日VOA聽力：熱核反響堆仍在扶植中
Scientists have long known that fusing atoms of twoisotopes of hydrogen, deuterium and tritium,releases huge amounts of energy and very littleradiation. But doing so requires
the kind of heat and pressure found in our sun,though focused on a much, much smaller point, -- about the size of a person's smaller pocketchange.
Modern technology says it is very difficult but not impossible to achieve. Powerful lasers wouldprovide pressure and heat while huge magnets would keep the little sun
levitating in the middle of a special chamber.
Fusion, It is projected, will yield up to 10 times more energy than it uses.
Started in 1985, a project in Southern France called ITER is slowly plodding along with plansfor a working fusion reactor. It's been plagued by politics, and by organizational
and funding difficulties.
But its new director general, French physicist and chemist Dr. Bernard Bigot, said the reactoris finally on its way to being built.
“For example the first delivery of what we call the cryostat piece is coming from India, okay. Inthe U.S., General Atomics has been able for example to deliver the first set
of the central solenoid,” said Bigot.
The Congressional committee that approves U.S. participation in the project has seesawed onits support. In 1998 it withdrew from the project, only to rejoin the effort in 2005
and then drastically reduce the funding in 2008. Bigot came to the U.S. to try to persuade it tostay on.
“The U.S. is now wondering if it is worth to move on, okay, forward with project for the nextcoming years or maybe to step down. And so it was quite important to show them
that despite the fact they just have the sharing of 9%, okay, project is moving on and it’sworth for them to stay in,” said Bigot.
Bigot added that if the new schedule is endorsed by seven core members, including the U.S.,China and Russia, the assembly of the reactor could be finished by 2025, with first
experiments starting in 2028.
Ultimately the reactor will cost billions of dollars to build, but if it works, the results will beliterally priceless.
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