The end of nuclear industry?

1. Read the texts below attentively and translate it:

The European nuclear industry, which — through its 812 billion kWh of output - accounted for 36% of the Continent's energy supply in 1997, still expresses confidence that the anti-nuclear tide will subside. Nuclear industry representatives claim that Europe needs "clean" nu­clear power to meet E. U. greenhouse gas reduction targets, and that the economic costs of reactor closures are likely to sour public opin­ion on nuclear phase out plans. The French nuclear industry also has high hopes for the new standardized European pressurized-water re­actor or EPR-design. The French hope that the new EPR may help nuclear power compete economically with new gas- and coal-fired plants and lead to a revival of nuclear plant development.

But the industry also faces major problems beyond the relative cost of nuclear power, including a string of public relations gaffes and an aging managerial class that has depended too much on cozy relation­ships with governments and regulators. For example, in May 1998, just as the German election season was heating up, newspapers were run­ning stories about higher than normal levels of radiation on trains used to move nuclear waste around Europe. The ensuing public outcry forced several governments to stop shipments of waste to France for reprocessing. In the end, it turned out the European nuclear industry had been routinely ignoring strict standards on train radiation levels for years because — claim industry representatives — they pose no real health danger, and following the rules to the letter is virtually impossi­ble. But the stories gave the industry a black eye and Germany's anti- nuclear movement a campaign issue.

Looming above the usual fights over German nuclear safety and en­vironmental issues, however, is the feeling that all European electrici­ty sectors will be put through major changes by E. U.-mandated mar­ket liberalization that was scheduled to begin in February. A report by Chicago-based Andersen Consulting issued in November predicts that over the next two decades, the European market will come to favour gas-fired local generation over large, remote base-load plants — nuclear or otherwise. As a result, the report says, the market will come to be dominated by new trading and financial groups with links to the gas industry, while traditional utilities — the core supporters of nuclear power — will take a back seat.

PRO AND AGAINST

Female Nerd

Nuclear power is a very clean source of energy and none of our other energy sources are at present time as clean and efficient. Environmen­talists cry out, "Nuclear power plants are a hazard to our environment!" I cannot deny that this is true and this is the reason why I am partly against nuclear power. There is always the risk of leaks, explosions and so forth but I think the risk is small enough for us to consider taking it.

It seems that the horror story of Chernobyl still haunts our minds whenever this topic is brought up. And it was a terribly tragic accident that destroyed the life of not only the people near it but the lives of the whole world's population generations ahead. This must not hap­pen again. But if we take precautions, build the power plants in a place without risk of earthquakes and most importantly make sure it is prop­erly funded we can narrow the risk down to almost nothing.

Almost is the magic word in this case. There is no way we can be absolutely sure nothing is going to happen. All we can do is decide if we want to risk. I strongly believe that poor countries like in the Eastern Europe should close down their nuclear power plants if they do not have the money to provide the necessary security. But I do not see a reason (not enough, anyway) why rich countries in the western world shouldn't engage in this industry. For'the sake of the environment.

Danny Kirkeby

I agree with you totally. It is the only viable source of energy that is available to mankind now. Everybody is talking about wind mills etc. but a wind mill will have to be in use for years and years just to recover the amount of energy put into producing it!!! (There are statistics on this, but I don't have the exact figures.) And yes! Lets support the eastern European countries in order to enable them to upgrade the safety on their nuclear plants. It's in our own interest.

Stephen English

I'm a 22-year-old editor at an environmental newspaper in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. In your essay on nuclear power you leave out the important issue of nuclear waste. We still don't know how to prop­erly dispose of it, and it remains dangerous for thousands of years. Until we solve the disposal problem, nuclear energy should not become a widespread power source.

Christian Plesner

As far as I know, we're about 30 years away from being able to travel freely from here to the moon. If we really become dependent upon nuclear power, we're only that far away from having solved the problem... (And I'm not joking — I mean this!)

No source of energy is without problems (not even fusion-power), and we have to ask ourselves — do we want to choose nuclear power with a problem that can be solved within 30 years, or do we want oil and coal, that isn't instantly as harmful as nuclear power, but which can't be solved at all.

I'd rather hand my grandchildren a clean world with a few nuclear deposits they can remove when they know how (to the moon, I say!), instead of polluted world.

Adam Zolciak

I've just read your essay on nuclear power. I work for the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) here in Ohio, USA. I agree that nuclear power is very clean compared to many sources of energy (much cleaner and safer than coal!). Supposedly, here in Toledo a company is working on a new type of solar panel. This new panel is supposed to be more cost-effective. Using their new panels they are claiming to be able to produce a Megawatt of power. Time will tell, but if this is true, solar power may be a viable alternative.

2. Give Russian equivalents to the following English word combinations from the text:

nuclear industry, energy supply, nuclear industry representatives, greenhouse gas reduction, public opin­ion, nuclear plant development, normal levels of radiation, nuclear waste, health danger, anti-nuclear movement, nuclear safety and en­vironmental issues, the core supporters of nuclear power.

3. Translate into English:

атомная энергия, очень чистый источник энергии, защитники окружающей природы, против атомной энергии, трагическая авария, разрушать энергию, риск землетрясения, закрыть атомную станцию, необходимая безопасность, богатые страны западного мира, источник энергии, решать проблему, чистый мир, солнечная энергия.

4. Answer the following questions:

1. What do nuclear industry representatives claim?

2. What problems does the nuclear industry face?

3. What was the reason of Germany's anti- nuclear movement?

4. What are the main pro and against of nuclear industry?

5. Discuss the future of nuclear power plants in our society. Use the following phrases and word combinations:

in my opinion,

to start with

to my mind

the fact is

I believe ...

I'm sure (certain)

I agree that...

the thing is

as far as I know...

I don't agree, think

THE INTERNET

1. Read the text below attentively and translate it:

The Internet, a global computer network which embraces millions of users all over the world, began in the United States in 1969 as a military experiment. It was designed to survive a nuclear war. Information sent over the Internet takes the shortest path available from one com­puter to another. Because of this, any two computers on the Internet will be able to stay in touch with each other as long as there is a single route between them. This technology is called packet swithing. Owing to this technology, if some computers on the network are knocked out (by a nuclear explosion, for example), information will just route around them. One such packet-swithing network already survived a war. It was the Iraqi computer network which was not knocked out during the Gulf War.

Most of the Internet host computers (more than 50 %) are in the United States, while the rest are located in more than 100 other countries. Although the number of host computers can be counted fairly accurately, nobody knows exactly how many people use the Internet, there are millions, and their number is growing by thousands each month worldwide.

The most popular Internet service is e-mail. Most of the people, who have access to the Internet, use the network only for sending and receiving e-mail messages. However, other popular services are available on the Internet: reading USENET News, using the World-Wide Web, telnet, FTP, and Gopher.

In many developing countries the Internet may provide businessmen with a reliable alternative to the expensive and unreliable telecommunications systems of these countries. Commercial users can communicate over the Internet with the rest of the world and can do it very cheaply. When they send e-mail messages, they only have to pay for phone calls to their local service providers, not for calls across their countries or around the world. But who actually pays for sending e- mail messages over the Internet long distances, around the world? The answer is very simple: an user pays his/her service provider a monthly or hourly fee. Part of this fee goes towards its costs to connect to a larger service provider. And part of the fee got by the larger provider goes to cover its cost of running a worldwide network of wires and wireless stations.

But saving money is only the first step. If people see that they can make money from the Internet, commercial use of this network will drastically increase. For example, some western architecture companies and garment centers already transmit their basic designs and concepts over the Internet into China, where they are reworked and refined by skilled — but inexpensive — Chinese computer-aided-design specialists.

However, some problems remain. The most important is security. When you send an e-mail message to somebody, this message can travel through many different networks and computers. The data is constantly being directed towards its destination by special computers called routers. Because of this, it is possible to get into any of computers along the route, intercept and even change the data being sent over the Internet. In spite of the fact that there are many strong encoding programs available, nearly all the information being sent over the Internet is transmitted without any form of encoding, i.e. "in the clear". But when it becomes necessary to send important information over the network, these encoding programs may be useful. Some American banks and companies even conduct transactions over the Internet. However, there are still both commercial and technical problems which will take time to be resolved.

Learn the vocabulary.

to embrace

to survive a nuclear war

to send over the Internet

to take the shortest path

to stay in touch with each other

packet swithing

to knock out computers on the network

packet-swithing network

fairly accurately

to read USENET News

to use the World-Wide Web, telnet, FTP, and Gopher

to run a worldwide network of wires and wireless stations

to increase drastically

computer-aided-design specialists

to be reworked and refined

strong encoding programs

3. Give Russian equivalents to the following English word combinations from the text:

A global computer network, a military experiment, information sent over the Internet, a single route between them, packet-swithing network, host computers, worldwide, the most popular Internet service, to have access to the Internet, to use the network, telecommunications systems, to communicate over the Internet, to pay for phone calls, local service providers.

4. Translate into English:

От одного компьютера к другому, дорогой и ненадёжный, знать точно, отправлять и принимать электронные сообщения, ядерный взрыв, обспечивать, благодаря этой технологии, месячная и почасовая плата, изменить данные, отправленные по интернету.

5. Answer the following questions:

1. What is the Internet?

2. What was the Internet originally designed for?

3. What country are most of the Internet host computers in?

4. What is the most popular Internet service?

5. Whom do you have to pay for sending e-mail