Prophetically, one of the great Russian pioneers of fusion physics said: "We will not harness the potential of fusion until it becomes a necessity" According to a study undertaken by the World Energy Council, by 2020, Western European oil and gas reserves will have declined to a point at which only Norway is expected to have significant reserves of natural gas and Western Europe may well enter a phase of declining oil production and rising oil import dependency. In 25 years time, Europe's dependence on the external supply of conventional fuels is likely to have increased from the current level of around 50% to around 70%.
Another important factor is likely to be a further tightening of international agreement regarding C02 emissions to decelerate the effects of global warming and consequent climatic changes. All this amounts to the need for intensified scientific research to achieve greater efficiency and conservation of our energy resources.
Given that, in the short term, some contribution will be made by various renewable energy systems — primarily biomass, hydro, solar, wind and geothermal systems — which is thought unlikely to exceed 20% of the total by 2020, the currently available non-fossil alternative to provide the major proportion of the outstanding 80% is nuclear fission but it is also clear that fusion could have an important role to play in the energy balance.
International cooperation is strong with the focus on the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), which will have the same magnetic geometry as JET [ https://www.iter.org ]. Similar but much bigger than JET and with the addition of a number of key technologies essential for a future power station, ITER will be able to operate for very much longer periods (over 1000 second pulses) and will help to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion power. Most importantly, it will be the first fusion device designed to achieve ignition and sustained burn — at which point the reactor becomes self-heating and productive.
Fusion Power: Safe and Clean
The imperative to demonstrate that fusion has the potential to be a safe and clean method of generating base load electricity led to the setting up
Unit 14. Fusion 105
of the European Safety and Environmental Assessment of Fusion Power (SEAFP) team in 1992. The main participants in SEAFP were the NET (Next Experimental Torus) team, the UKAEA, other European fusion laboratories, and a grouping of major European industrial companies.
The work embraced the conceptual design of fusion power stations and the safety and environmental assessments of those designs. Detailed work was done on the identification and modelling of conceivable accident sequences, the potential hazards of normal operation, waste management, the long term availability of materials and other issues.
The major conclusions reached by the SEAFP team in were that fusion has very good inherent safety qualities; there are no chain reactions and no production of'actinides'. The worst possible accident originating in a fusion power station could not breach the confinement; any releases could not approach levels at which evacuation would be considered.
The radiotoxicity of a fusion power station's waste materials decays very rapidly; after less than 100 years it is equal to the radiotoxicity of the waste from a coal-fired power station. Thus, fusion wastes present no accumulating or long-term burden on future generations. They would not need guaranteed isolation from the environment for very long time spans. In addition to these favourable results, fusion produces no climate-changing or atmosphere-polluting emissions.
VOCABULARY
| limitless source of energy неограниченный источник энергии formidable challenge сложная задача promising многообещающий, подающий надежды hangar ангар, укрытие to shroud in secrecy держать в тайне thaw «оттепель», смягчение международной напряженности to reveal открывать to shared experience делиться опытом prerequisite предпосылка to involve включать vigorous энергичный, решительный |
to harness использовать to undertake предпринимать to decline уменьшаться further tightening дальнейшее укрепление to decelerate замедлять to amount to добиваться essential важный, существенный imperative императив to embrace включать, охватывать conceivable вероятный, возможный availability наличие to decay распадаться, разрушаться burden бремя
Section I. Power Engineering
Unit 14. Fusion
| EXERCISES |
| 1. Find the Russian equivalents in b) for the following English words and word combinations in a). |
| 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 |
| 2. Guess the meaning of the following international words: |
| experimental visit expert reserves programme import global |
| radiotoxicity results climate atmosphere |
| 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 |
a) future generations formidable scientific and engineering challenge magnetic confinement promising configuration magnetic chamber large-scale absolute prerequisite fusion research vigorous programmes necessity
significant reserves oil import dependency consequent climatic changes safe and clean major conclusions favourable results time span
potential
isotope
process
effective
gas
configuration
original
b) многообещающая конфигурация
исследования термоядерного синтеза период времени будущие поколения сложная научная и техническая проблема благоприятные результаты удерживание плазмы магнитным полем главные заключения магнитная камера безопасный и чистый последующие климатические изменения крупномасштабный зависимость от импортируемой нефти абсолютная предпосылка значительные резервы необходимость энергоемкие программы
method
reactor
conceptual
identification
normal
operation
evacuation
3. Find in the text above the antonyms to the following words:
a) limited c) constant e) to rise g) to accelerate
b) easy d) to conceal f) internal
4. Give the Russian equivalents to the English word combinations from the text:
— fusing light nuclei — renewable energy systems
— effective energy-producing — future power station fusions — fusion power stations
— original large-scale experi- — safety and environmental mental fusion device assessments
— large-scale fusion research — fusion power station's
— consequent climatic waste materials changes
5. Translate the following sentences with the Infinitive. Pay attention to the different
ways of translation depending on the different functions of the Infinitive.
a) It is called 'fusion' because it is based on fusing light nuclei such as hydrogen isotopes to release energy.
b) One way to achieve these conditions is to use magnetic confinement.
c) The Russians by bringing their leading fusion expert Academician I.V. Kurchatov to give a lecture "The Possibility of Producing Thermonuclear Reactions in a Gas Discharge" revealed their own work in the field and we shared our experience with ZETA.
d) By 2020 Western European oil and gas reserves will have declined to a point at which only Norway is expected to have significant reserves of natural gas and Western Europe may well enter a phase of declining oil production and rising oil import dependency.
e) In 25 years time, Europe's dependence on the external supply of conventional fuels is likely to have increased from the current level of around 50% to around 70%.
f) Another important factor is likely to be a further tightening of international agreement regarding C02 emissions to decelerate the effects of global warming and consequent climatic changes.
6. Complete the following sentences to check how much you have memorized.
a) It is called 'fusion' because it is based on fusing light nuclei such as hydrogen isotopes (to release energy, to produce energy, to transmit energy).
108 Section I. Power Engineering
b) Effective energy-producing fusions require that gas from a combination of isotopes of hydrogen is heated to very high temperatures (200 million degrees Centigrade, 100 million degrees Centigrade, 300 million degrees Centigrade).
c) Prophetically, one of the great Russian pioneers of fusion physics said: "We will not harness the potential of fusion until (it becomes safe, it becomes a necessity, it becomes customary).
d) Another important factor is likely to be a further tightening of international agreement regarding C02 emissions to decelerate the effects of global warming and (consequent river flow changes, consequent humidity changes, consequent climatic changes).
e) The main participants in SEAFP were the NET (Next Experimental Torus) team, the UKAEA, other European fusion laboratories, and a grouping of major (European industrial companies, American industrial companies, Asian industrial companies).
7. Answer the following questions using the information from the text.
a) Why is it called fusion?
b) What is the most promising configuration of magnetic confinement?
c) What is the role of the Academician I.V. Kurchatov?
d) What about Western European oil and gas reserves?
e) Could fusion have an important role to play in the energy balance?
f) What are the major conclusions reached by the SEAFP team?
8. Write a summary of the text using the following phrases:
— as the title implies the article describes
- the text gives a valuable information on
— much attention is given to
— it draws our attention to
- it should be stressed emphasized that
- it is specially noted
Unit 14. Fusion
PART 2
• Look through the text and give an appropriate title to it.
With deuterium and tritium as the fuel, the fusion reactor would be an effectively inexhaustible source of energy. Deuterium is obtained from sea-water. About one in every 3,000 water molecules contains a deuterium atom. There is enough deuterium in the oceans to provide for the world's energy needs for billions of years. One gram of fusion fuel can produce as much energy as 9,000 litres of oil. The amount of deuterium found naturally in one litre of water is the energy equivalent of 300 litres of gasoline. Tritium is bred in the fusion reactor. It is generated in the lithium blanket as a product of the reaction in which neutrons are captured by the lithium nuclei.
A fusion reactor would have several attractive safety features. First, it is not subject to a runaway, or "meltdown" accident as is a fission reactor. The fusion reaction is not a chain reaction. It requires a hot plasma. Accidental interruption of a plasma control system would extinguish the plasma and terminate fusion.
Second, the products of a fusion reaction are not radioactive; hence, no long-term radioactive wastes would be generated. Neutron bombardment would activate the walls of the containment vessel, but such activated material is shorter-lived and less toxic than the waste products of a fission reactor. (Moreover, even this activation problem may be eliminated, either by the development of advanced, low-activation materials, such as vanadium-based materials, or by the employment of "advanced" fusion-fuel cycles that do not produce neutrons, such as the fusion of deuterons with helium-3 nuclei. Nearly neutron-free fusion systems, which require higher temperatures than D-T fusion, might make up a "second generation" of fusion reactors.) Finally, a fusion reactor would not release the gaseous pollutants that accompany the combustion of fossil fuels; hence, fusion would not produce a greenhouse effect.
* Answer the following questions using the information from the text.
a) What is deuterium obtained from?
b) How much energy can one gram of fusion fuel produce?
110 Section I. Power Engineering
c) What does the fusion reaction require?
d) What are the advantages of fusion reactor?
JUST FOR FUN
• Read this joke and smile. Tell your friend.
SCIENTISTS SMILE
Simple Experiment
Here is a simple experiment that will teach you an important electrical lesson: On a cool, dry day, scuff1 your feet along a carpet, then reach your hand into a friend's mouth and touch one of his dental fillings2. Did you notice how your friend twitched Violently and cried out in pain? This teaches us that electricity can be a very powerful force, but we must never use it to hurt others unless we need to learn an important electrical lesson.
Dave Barry, "What is Electricity?"
Section II
SUPPLEMENTARY READING
1 - потрите; 2 - пломбы; З - дернулся
^^ШA. ATOMIC ENERGY ^^Ш
1. You will read the opinions of different people from different countries of the world for and against nuclear energy. Say whether you agree or not with them. Use the following phrases and word combinations:
in my opinion to start with the thing is
to my mind as far as I know
the fact is I believe