TASK 6. Give annotation of the text.

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TASK 7. Give your own opinion on the text.

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TASK 8.Give a short summary of the text.

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TEXT 6

PEACEFUL ATOM

Many problems had to be solved; the main one was that of 'braking' the released neutrons efficiently  so that the chain reaction would not get out of hand.

But the scientists and technicians have since developed a great many different types of reactors — some already in every­day use, others running experimentally in atomic research establishments or being built for special jobs and purposes of all kinds, from producing nuclear explosives for weapons to 'cooking' stable elements  so that they become unstable isotopes for use in medicine, industry, agriculture, and research.

Some experts predicted that in Britain, for instance, an acute shortage of cheaply mined coal would set in after 1980. Oil is still to be found in plenty, but consumption has been increasing in leaps and bounds  all over the world.

It is not generated by the chemical process of combustion. It is released when nuclei undergo fission, and although here, too, matter is used up, the amounts are small compared with the energy produced. And there is good reason to hope that before long  we shall be able to produce energy from ordinary sea-water by another nuclear reaction called 'fusion'.

Britain's first two nuclear power stations were Calder Hall (opened in 1956) and Chapelcross (1959),  both of the same type. The reactor 'vessel'  a giant steel cylinder, contains a pile of pure graphite, the material from which pencil leads are made.

Safety rods

 

Fig. 3. An Atomic Pile

Control rods

Uranium rods

The coolant gas, after leaving the 'core'  of the reactor, is conducted to the heat exchangers.  They are basically ordi­nary boilers in which water is turned into steam. The water is contained in steel pipes around which the hot coolant gas is blown. The resulting steam is directed into the turbines which rotate the electric generators. Calder Hall and Chapelcross have eight of them each, generating 180,000 and 140,000 kW respectively of electricity, which is fed into the national grid.  

The theory of nuclear fusion was discovered in the early 1930's — years before that of fission — by John Cockeroft at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge, where he worked under Lord Rutherford. Here they built a simple machine, which looked more like a couple of stove-pipes than an atom-smashing tool, for shooting electrically speed-up pro­tons at the nuclei of light elements, such as lithium. The result was that the lithium nuclei turned into nuclei of helium. It was only later that it dawned on the physicists¹⁰ that some such process is responsible for the way in which the stars, including our own sun, produce their tremendous energy.

As these lines are being written many scientists in at least half a dozen countries are busy trying to find a system to tame the energy of the H-bomb for peaceful use, but no decisive 'break-through' has been achieved.  

One, called the 'thermionic converter',  uses the principle of the cathode-ray tube in which electrons, particles of nega­tive electricity, are given off by a hot strip of metal, the cathode, in a vacuum.

Atomic as well as conventional power stations may be made much more efficient by the gas-blast system  of generating electricity. It is based on the fact that a blast of very hot gas (at least 2,000° Centigrade), which could be produced by a fission or fusion reactor, becomes an electrical conductor and generates current when moving through the poles of a powerful magnet.

One of the major problems connected with nuclear power stations is the safe disposal of radio-active waste; burying it, or dumping it into the sea, is not everywhere the best means of getting rid of it¹⁴.

But there is a vital tool in our nuclear age, the Geiger counter  in its manifold forms, which measures radio-activity accurately.

The Geiger counter consists of a metal cylinder filled with gas at low pressure; two electrodes — one being the cylinder itself, the other a fine wire stretched along its centre — are maintained at a large potential difference, usually about 1,000 — 1,500 volts, but no spark is allowed to pass between them.

Geiger counters are being made and adapted for all kinds of purposes — light ones for uranium prospecting; built-in types for atomic power stations and research establishments; counters with warning signals for factory workers who have to handle radio-active matter and whose hands and clothes have to be checked.

PHRASES & WORD COMBINATIONS TO THE TEXT

1. the main one was that of 'braking' the released neutrons efficiently – основная проблема состояла в том, чтобы по-настоящему “обуздать” освобожденные нейтроны

2. to 'cooking' stable elements – до “изготовления” устойчивых элементов

3. but consumption has been increasing in leaps and bounds – но потребление стремительно растет

4. before long – очень скоро

5. In Russia such a kind of nuclear power station was build in 1954.

6. vessel – котел реактора

7. the 'core' – активная зона

8. to the heat exchangers - теплообменники

9. into the national grid – в национальную энергетическую систему

10.  it was only later that it dawned on the physicists – и лишь позже физики поняли

11.  but no decisive 'break-through' has been achieved – но решающий момент еще не наступил

12.  'thermionic converter – термоионный преобразователь

13.  the gas-blast system – система, основанная на взрыве газа

14.  getting rid of it – освободиться от них

15.  the Geiger counter – счетчик Гейгера, является одним из основных приборов в ядерной физике

EXERCISES

TASK 1. Answer the questions:

1.What is happened in 1942? ___________________________________________

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2. Have the scientists and technicians developed many different types of reactors?

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3.How was the energy produced after 1980? ______________________________

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4. How is atomic energy produced? _____________________________________

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5.What have you known about first two nuclear stations in Britain? ____________

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6. When the theory of nuclear fusion was discovered? _______________________

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7.What is the theory of nuclear fusion? ___________________________________

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8. What is a vital tool in our nuclear age? _________________________________

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9. What does the Geiger counter consist of? _______________________________

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10.What sphere are Geiger counters being made and adapted? ________________

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TASK 2. Translate the passage from “ The theory of nuclear fusion …” to “… produce their tremendous energy. ” in the written form.

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TASK 3. Match the equevalents:

Nuclear fusion, turbines, nuclear reaction, combustion, increasing, atomic research, atomic 'pile', problems, fissioned nucleus, unimaginable horror.

турбины

разделенное ядро

ядерная реакция

синтез атома

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сгорание

увеличение, усиление

ядерный реактор

невообразимый страх

проблемы

исследование атома

TASK 4. Fill in the blanks with words and word combinations from the text:

Atomic _________ is produced in a __________ way. It is not generated by the _________ of combustion. It is released when nuclei undergo ________, and although here, too, matter is used up, the amounts are _________ compared with the energy produced. A __________ of uranium 235 can be made to supply a _________ town with all the _________ it needs during a _________ year.

TASK 5. Translate into English:

    Но ученые имеют дело со многими другими типами реакторов - некоторые уже практически используются в течение долгого времени, другие экспериментально на атомных научно-исследовательских станциях или смонтированны для специальных рабочих мест и служат решению различных целей: производства взрывоопасных веществ, использования в лекарствах.

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