美國熱浪讓核能露生機●CBS（2011.07.24）/ 南風譯
【Comment】
核能是共業，偏執即看不到全貌。如同奧林匹斯山上的眾神，核能派與綠能派正在角力中。
美國熱浪讓核能露生機●CBS（2011.07.24）/ 南風譯
美國東半部氣溫達華氏三位數，熱浪造成34人喪生。週日氣溫下降，電力供應吃緊的狀況獲得舒緩。
CBS News 記者Whit Johnson報導：供應中西部及中大西洋總共一億人口的兩大電力系統，上星期四雙雙打破尖峰紀錄。七月以來的用電量已經比過去七月平均用電量高出百分之十。在需求增加的狀況下，核電可能鹹魚翻身。美國在接下來的二十年用電，預測將增加百分之二十一，這使得核能可能再度回籠。歐巴馬總統不就前才說過：「我們必須明白，只要是安全的，核能可以在解決氣候異常的問題上作出重大的貢獻。」歐巴馬總統已經要求數十億貸款，來興建新的核能電廠。但是福島、三浬島、及車諾比事件使美國人害怕核電。
1996之後就不再有核能電廠啟用，但這狀況有可能改變。西屋總裁Aris Candris邀請CBS參觀AP100的模擬控制室。「美國機組現在比法律規定大約安全兩倍。AP1000則安全100倍。」Candris說。兩年後在中國，西屋核能反應爐啟用，到時候Candris所宣稱的安全保證將受到考驗。
2016喬治亞的Vogtle也有兩組AP1000反應爐啟用。它的設計，運用兩種大自然的力量：重力與對流。緊急狀況時，反應爐上方的大槽會緩緩釋放水。水受熱，蒸氣上升，凝結成水，再落下。西屋說，這樣的循環可以讓福島的操作員遠離電廠三天，不必冒生命的危險。但是，批評者可不買帳。「沒有任何核電廠是絕對安全的，我認為那樣描述任何科技都是一種欺騙。這些電廠還沒運作。這些計算都只是紙上談兵。」Edwin Lyman這麼說。他是Union of Concerned Scientists（憂心科學家聯盟）的資深科學家。不過，美國新核電廠的興建正在進行當中。我們無法預測下一次的核災，但是我們確知：錯估的代價是什麼。
U.S. heat wave causes new look at nuclear energy●CBS（2011.07.24）
(CBS News) Temperatures began going down Sunday in the eastern half of the country, dropping from last week's record triple-digits and easing a heat wave blamed for at least 34 deaths.
Power suppliers are also breathing easier.
CBS News correspondent Whit Johnson reports that the nation's two biggest grids, serving 100-million consumers in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic states , both broke peak usage records last Thursday.
Demand was said to be ten percent higher than the average for July, and with demand only growing, going nuclear is getting another look.
The nuclear power comeback could be fueled with the fact that U.S. energy demand is expected to increase by 21-percent in the next two decades.
President Barack Obama said not long ago: "We've got to recognize that nuclear power, if it's safe, can make a significant contribution to the climate change question."
Mr. Obama has called for billions in loan guarantees to build new nuclear reactors.
But past disasters like Fukushima, Japan, Three Mile Island and Chernobyl have made Americans fearful of nuclear energy.
There has not been a single new nuclear plant that has gone on-line since 1996, but that's about to change. Westinghouse CEO Aris Candris showed CBS News the simulated control room for the AP 1000.
"The U.S. fleet right now is about twice as safe as required by law. The AP 1000 is one hundred times safer," Candris said.
That claim will be put to the test when the very first goes online in China in two years.
Then by 2016, in Vogtle, GA , two AP 1000 reactors are scheduled to begin operation. The design uses two forces of nature: gravity and convection.
In an emergency, a giant tank above the reactor is supposed to slowly release water. The water heats up, rises, collects as condensation, and then falls back down.
Westinghouse says this repeating cycle would allow operators like those in Japan, who worked through life threatening conditions, to stay out of the plant and out of danger for three days.
Critics, however, aren't buying it.
"No nuclear power plant is walk away safe, and I think it is deceptive to paint any technology in that light. These plants have not been operated yet. These calculations are based on paper studies," said Edwin Lyman, a senior scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Still, construction on new plants in the U.S. is moving forward. The next disaster may be impossible to predict, but we know the cost of miscalculation.
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