2022年12月14日 VOA慢速英語：美國科學家宣布在核聚變發(fā)展方面取得重大進展

 

American scientists have announced a "major scientific breakthrough" in the long-sought search for a way to use nuclear fusion to produce energy.
美國科學家宣布在長期尋求利用核聚變產生能量的方法中取得“重大科學突破”。
 
The announcement came Tuesday during a briefing by U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and other officials in Washington, D.C. Granholm said that, for the first time, a fusion reaction experiment had produced more energy than was required to ignite it.
周二，美國能源部長詹妮弗格蘭霍姆和其他官員在華盛頓特區(qū)舉行的簡報會上宣布了這一消息。格蘭霍姆說，聚變反應實驗產生的能量首次超過了點燃它所需的能量。
 
Scientists describe such a result as "net energy gain." This state has until now been an unreachable goal for the scientists because fusion happens at extremely high temperatures and pressures. This makes the process very difficult to control.
科學家將這種結果描述為“凈能量增益”。到目前為止，這種狀態(tài)一直是科學家無法實現的目標，因為聚變發(fā)生在極高的溫度和壓力下。這使得該過程非常難以控制。
 
The new result came last week during an experiment carried out by government scientists at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. The lab is part of the U.S. Department of Energy.
上周，政府科學家在加利福尼亞州勞倫斯利弗莫爾國家實驗室的國家點火設施進行的一項實驗中得出了新結果。該實驗室隸屬于美國能源部。
 
Fusion happens when the nuclei of two atoms are subjected to extreme heat. This leads to the formation of a new, larger atom and the release of energy. Fusion is the process that fuels stars, including the sun.
當兩個原子的原子核經受極端高溫時，就會發(fā)生聚變。這導致形成一個新的更大的原子并釋放能量。聚變是為包括太陽在內的恒星提供燃料的過程。
 
Scientists have long understood how nuclear fusion works. Many have tried to repeat the process on Earth. The current efforts centered on fusing a pair of hydrogen isotopes — deuterium and tritium. The Department of Energy says that the combination releases "much more energy than most fusion reactions." It also requires less heat to do so.
在地球上。目前的努力集中在融合一對氫同位素——氘和氚。能源部表示，這種結合釋放出“比大多數聚變反應多得多的能量”。這樣做還需要更少的熱量。
 
Some experts have suggested that fusion energy could one day be used to provide limitless, pollution-free power.
一些專家建議，有朝一日可以使用聚變能來提供無限、無污染的電力。
 
Granholm and other officials said Tuesday that the latest result is a major step forward in helping to create a future source for clean power generation. However, they said commercialization of the technology will likely take many years to be fully developed.
Granholm 和其他官員周二表示，最新結果是在幫助創(chuàng)造清潔能源的未來來源方面向前邁出的重要一步。然而，他們表示，該技術的商業(yè)化可能需要很多年才能完全開發(fā)。
 
Granholm said the department's ignition success permits scientists for the first time to copy "certain conditions that are found only in the stars and the sun." She added that the result is a major step toward "the possibility of zero-carbon abundant fusion energy powering our society."
格蘭霍姆說，該部門的點火成功使科學家們第一次能夠復制“僅在恒星和太陽中發(fā)現的某些條件”。她補充說，這一結果是朝著“為我們的社會提供動力的大量零碳聚變能源的可能性”邁出的重要一步。
 
The experiments involved aiming nearly 200 lasers at a small capsule that contained fuel. When the lasers ignited the fuel, two lighter atoms were joined together to create a denser one. This process produced more energy than was required to ignite it, the scientists said.
實驗涉及將近 200 束激光瞄準一個裝有燃料的小膠囊。當激光點燃燃料時，兩個較輕的原子結合在一起形成一個密度較大的原子?？茖W家們說，這個過程產生的能量比點燃它所需的能量還要多。
 
The experiment briefly reached "fusion ignition" by generating 3.15 megajoules of energy output. This was after the laser targeting the capsule used 2.05 megajoules of energy, the Energy Department said. A megajoule is a measurement for energy output.
實驗通過產生 3.15 兆焦耳的能量輸出，短暫地達到了“聚變點火”。能源部表示，這是在瞄準太空艙的激光使用了 2.05 兆焦耳的能量之后。兆焦耳是對
 
Nuclear scientists not involved in the latest result praised the success as a major breakthrough. But they noted there is much more science to be done before fusion can develop into a profitable industry.
沒有參與最新結果的核科學家稱贊這一成功是一項重大突破。但他們指出，在核聚變發(fā)展成為有利可圖的行業(yè)之前，還有許多科學工作要做。
 
Riccardo Betti is a professor at New York's University of Rochester and an expert in laser fusion. He compared the latest result to when humans first learned that refining oil into gasoline and igniting it could produce an explosion.
里卡多·貝蒂 (Riccardo Betti) 是紐約羅徹斯特大學的教授，也是激光核聚變方面的專家。他將最新的結果比作人類第一次知道將石油提煉成汽油并點燃它會產生爆炸。
 
"You still don't have the engine, and you still don't have the tires," Betti said. "You can't say that you have a car."
“你仍然沒有發(fā)動機，你仍然沒有輪胎”貝蒂說。 “你不能說你有車。”
 
Tony Roulstone is a nuclear energy expert at the University of Cambridge in Britain. He told Reuters news agency that while interesting, the latest experiment still leaves scientists a long way from turning the process into useful, limitless energy.
Tony Roulstone 是英國劍橋大學的核能專家。他告訴路透社，雖然有趣，但最新的實驗仍然讓科學家們在將過程轉化為有用的、無限的能源方面還有很長的路要走。
 
Roulstone said that in order to become commercially successful, a power plant would have to produce enough energy to also power the laser equipment and generate a continuous ignition process.
Roulstone 說，為了在商業(yè)上取得成功，發(fā)電廠將必須產生足夠的能量來為激光設備供電并產生連續(xù)的點火過程。Tony Roulstone 是英國劍橋大學的核能專家。他告訴路透社，雖然有趣，但最新的實驗仍然讓科學家們在將過程轉化為有用的、無限的能源方面還有很長的路要走。