Answer the questions.
Why do we need the alternative sources of energy?
What are the alternative sources of energy?
What are the disadvantages of nuclear power?
What advantages of nuclear power were mentioned in the discussion?
What point of view do you agree with? Are you an optimist?
18. Understanding a lecture
Listen to the lecture, which has been divided into three sections, and then answer the questions below.
1.
This lecture is one in a series. What is the series about?
What is the lecture about?
Find a suitable sub-heading for each of the three sections.
2. This graph is referred to in Section 1 of the lecture as Graph 1. Draw the curve of the graph according to the description given in the lecture.
3. These questions refer to Section 2 of the lecture.
The terms porous and permeability are used to describe the rock where natural geothermal reservoirs are found. Define the two terms.
Thermal energy is obtained from underground rocks by ………………
Are natural geothermal reservoirs . . .?
a) found everywhere?
b) fairly common?
c) not so common?
d) rare?
What are the four conditions which must be met if a source of geothermal energy is to be made economically viable?
4. This graph is referred to in Section 3 of the lecture as Graph 2. Draw the curve of the graph according to the description given.
5. Discussion.
Could geothermal energy solve some of our energy problems in the future?
Johnson C.N. & D. General Engineering. Prentice Hall, Europe, 1998.
19. Read the text attentively, do the task after it. Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster is a series of equipment failures, nuclear meltdowns (разрушение из-за расплавления), and releases of radioactive materials at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011. It is the largest nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl disaster of 1986.
The plant comprises six separate boiling water reactors originally designed by General Electric (GE), and maintained by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). At the time of the quake, Reactor 4 had been de-fuelled while 5 and 6 were in cold shutdown (холодная остановка) for planned maintenance. The remaining reactors shut down automatically after the earthquake, and emergency generators came online to control electronics and coolant systems. The tsunami broke the reactors' connection to the power grid (сетка) and resulted in flooding of the rooms containing the emergency generators. Consequently those generators ceased working and the pumps that circulate coolant water in the reactor ceased to work, causing the reactors to begin to overheat. The flooding and earthquake damage hindered (помешать) external assistance.
In the hours and days that followed, reactors 1, 2 and 3 experienced full meltdown. As workers struggled to cool and shut down the reactors, several hydrogen explosions occurred. The government ordered that seawater be used to attempt to cool the reactors—this had the effect of ruining the reactors entirely. As the water levels in the fuel rods (топливный стержень) pools dropped, they began to overheat. Fears of radioactivity releases led to a 20 km (12 mi)-radius evacuation around the plant, while workers suffered radiation exposure and were temporarily evacuated at various times. Electrical power was slowly restored for some of the reactors, allowing for automated cooling.
Japanese officials initially assessed the accident as Level 4 on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) despite the views of other international agencies that it should be higher. The level was successively raised to 5 and eventually to 7, the maximum scale value. The Japanese government and TEPCO have been criticized in the foreign press for poor communication with the public and improvised (плохо подготовленный) cleanup efforts. On 20 March, the Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano announced that the plant would be decommissioned (вывести из эксплуатации) once the crisis was over.
The Japanese government estimates the total amount of radioactivity released into the atmosphere was approximately one-tenth as much as was released during the Chernobyl disaster. Significant amounts of radioactive material have also been released into ground and ocean waters. Measurements taken by the Japanese government 30–50 km from the plant showed radioactive cesium levels high enough to cause concern, leading the government to ban the sale of food grown in the area. Tokyo officials temporarily recommended that tap water should not be used to prepare food for infants.
A few of the plant's workers were severely injured or killed by the disaster conditions resulting from the earthquake. There were no immediate deaths due to direct radiation exposures, but at least six workers have exceeded lifetime legal limits for radiation and more than 300 have received significant radiation doses. Future cancer deaths due to accumulated radiation exposures in the population living near Fukushima have been estimated to be between 100 and 1,000. Fear of ionizing radiation could have long-term psychological effects on a large portion of the population in the contaminated areas. On 16 December 2011 Japanese authorities declared the plant to be stable, although it would take decades to decontaminate the surrounding areas and to decommission the plant altogether.
From www.wikipedia.ed.
Put the sentences in the correct order according to the text without looking into it:
1. The tsunami broke the reactors' connection to the power grid and resulted in flooding of the rooms containing the emergency generators.
2. At the time of the quake, Reactor 4 had been de-fuelled while 5 and 6 were in cold shutdown for planned maintenance.
3. The generators ceased working and the pumps that circulate coolant water in the reactor ceased to work, causing the reactors to begin to overheat.
4. International agencies consider that it should be higher. The level was successively raised to 5 and eventually to 7, the maximum scale value.
5. In the hours and days that followed, reactors 1, 2 and 3 experienced full meltdown.
6. The government ordered that seawater be used to attempt to cool the reactors—this had the effect of ruining the reactors entirely.
7. The water levels in the fuel rods pools dropped, they began to overheat. Fears of radioactivity releases led to a 20 km (12 mi)-radius evacuation around the plant.
8. Workers struggled to cool and shut down the reactors, several hydrogen explosions occurred.
9. The Japanese government and TEPCO have been criticized in the foreign press for poor communication with the public and improvised cleanup efforts.
10. Japanese officials assessed the accident as Level 4 on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES).
11. The flooding and earthquake damage hindered external assistance.
12. The remaining reactors shut down automatically after the earthquake, and emergency generators came online to control electronics and coolant systems.
13. Electrical power was slowly restored for some of the reactors, allowing for automated cooling.