China says its nuclear industry has made a fresh technological breakthrough, which, even if it doesn't immediately solve the country's energy needs, underscores Beijing's determination to be a leading font of knowledge about the controversial power source.

　　Ina Fassbender/Reuters游客在卡爾卡爾游樂園（Wunderland Kalkar）乘坐一個(gè)高空旋轉(zhuǎn)木馬。這里原本是一個(gè)歐洲快中子增殖反應(yīng)堆，但從未投入使用，并最終被改造成游樂場。

　　中國宣布其核工業(yè)技術(shù)取得了新的突破。這即使不會(huì)即刻滿足中國的能源需求，也反映了北京在掌握這種爭議性能源相關(guān)知識(shí)方面領(lǐng)先于人的決心。

　　The China Institute of Atomic Energy said Thursday that a small, experimental “fast breeder” reactor outside Beijing had been hooked to the grid to produce electricity. Essentially, the tiny 20 megawatt nuclear plant '863' is now helping satisfy China's vast power needs.

　　中國原子能科學(xué)研究所周四說，位于北京郊外的一座小型實(shí)驗(yàn)“快中子增殖反應(yīng)堆”已經(jīng)并網(wǎng)發(fā)電。這座功率為2萬千瓦的小型核電站（863項(xiàng)目）本質(zhì)上已經(jīng)在參與滿足中國巨大的能源需求了。

　　To supporters of nuclear power, fast-breeding is alluring. The idea is that it produces more plutonium than the plant needs to run, providing fissionable material usable elsewhere in the nation's nuclear program. For China, which is long on nuclear ambitions but short on uranium, it's an especially desirable technology.

　　對(duì)于核能支持者來說，快堆很有誘惑力。其想法是生產(chǎn)出超過電站運(yùn)營所需的口元素，為中國核計(jì)劃的其他項(xiàng)目提供可使用的裂變材料。中國發(fā)展一直對(duì)發(fā)展核能充滿野心，但鈾資源不足，所以這種技術(shù)是它特別想要掌握的。

　　Yet the process hasn't proved workable on a large scale elsewhere. Fast-breeder programs have been abandoned in a number of countries, including the U.S., and the plants that remain are small. To some critics, it is a nuclear version of the “perpetual motion machine,” a seemingly problem-solving theory that doesn't work well outside the laboratory.

　　但這一工藝尚未證明能夠大規(guī)模地用在其他地方。包括美國在內(nèi)的多個(gè)國家已經(jīng)放棄快堆項(xiàng)目，而且快堆電廠的發(fā)電量仍然很少。對(duì)于一些反對(duì)者來說，它就是核能版的“永動(dòng)機(jī)”，看起來好像能夠解決問題，但一出實(shí)驗(yàn)室就不怎么管用了。

　　In a statement posted to its website (in Chinese) Thursday, China's atomic institute said the advantages of fast-breeder reactors are that they save uranium and reduce nuclear waste. “The establishment of sustainable development of nuclear energy is important,” the statement said, noting that a number of industry dignitaries were on hand for the announcement.

　　中國原子能科學(xué)研究所周四在官網(wǎng)發(fā)布聲明說，快堆的優(yōu)勢在于節(jié)省鈾資源，并減少核廢物。聲明說，“快堆技術(shù)的發(fā)展和推廣，……對(duì)核能的可持續(xù)發(fā)展具有重要意義”，并提到有多位行業(yè)重要人士出席了宣布儀式。

　　China's nuclear engineers, of course, are operating in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster, a game-changing event that would seem likely to make the industry more risk averse. In days after Japan's March 11 earthquake-tsunami-nuclear crisis, Beijing defiantly pledged to continue with its huge nuclear rollout but quickly reversed course and said it would proceed cautiously.

　　眾所周知，中國核能工程師這些活動(dòng)是在福島核災(zāi)難發(fā)生后進(jìn)行的。福島的災(zāi)難意義重大，有可能讓整個(gè)行業(yè)變得更加謹(jǐn)慎。在日本3月11日地震、海嘯和核危機(jī)之后不久，北京依舊承諾繼續(xù)推進(jìn)其巨大的核計(jì)劃，但很快改變口風(fēng)說，它將謹(jǐn)慎推進(jìn)。

　　In fact, the grid hook-up to the experimental fast-breeder plant may underscore that caution, as Beijing spent a year testing the plant's operations before linking it to the grid.

　　事實(shí)上，實(shí)驗(yàn)快堆并網(wǎng)發(fā)電或許正是反映了這種謹(jǐn)慎，因?yàn)椴⒕W(wǎng)之前北京花了一年時(shí)間來測試這座電站的運(yùn)營。

　　Among the practical challenges associated with fast-breeders: they are potentially riskier than more conventional light-water reactors, relying on cooling of the reactor core with a potentially dangerous loop of flammable sodium, rather than water. Plus, the fuel input is essentially weapons-grade uranium, which is difficult to handle compared with the chemically stable material that powers most nuclear plants, namely uranium dioxide.

　　快堆在實(shí)際操作中的挑戰(zhàn)有：它們依靠可能會(huì)有危險(xiǎn)的易燃鈉循環(huán)、而不是水循環(huán)來冷卻堆心，風(fēng)險(xiǎn)可能高于常規(guī)輕水反應(yīng)堆。另外，其燃料實(shí)質(zhì)上是武器級(jí)的鈾元素，相比多數(shù)核電站所用、化學(xué)上比較穩(wěn)定的二氧化鈾更難處理。

　　The fast-breeder process also appears for China to be a degree more tricky to develop on a commercial scale than reprocessed fuel, another controversial technology the country says it is pursuing to address its uranium needs. Fast breeding is something new for China while the country's military has long-term experience with reprocessing.

　　對(duì)于中國來說，快堆工藝似乎也比燃料再加工更難實(shí)現(xiàn)商用化規(guī)模應(yīng)用。燃料再加工是中國方面說它正在探索、用以解決其鈾需求的另一項(xiàng)爭議性技術(shù)。快堆對(duì)中國來說還比較新鮮，而中國軍方對(duì)于燃料再加工已有很長時(shí)間的經(jīng)驗(yàn)。

　　Mark Hibbs, a nuclear expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, says he visited China's fast-breeder reactor in the weeks after the Fukushima disaster. He describes it as a tiny “research reactor,” and says he got the sense officials planned to proceed extremely cautiously in building an 800-megawatt plant as scientists once discussed.

　　卡內(nèi)基國際和平基金會(huì)(Carnegie Endowment for International Peace)核能專家海布斯(Mark Hibbs)說，他在福島核災(zāi)難發(fā)生數(shù)周之后就參觀了中國的快堆。他說這是一臺(tái)小型“研究型快堆”，并覺得中國官員打算在建設(shè)科學(xué)家們?cè)?jīng)討論的80萬千瓦電站時(shí)極其穩(wěn)妥地推進(jìn)。

　　Breakthroughs like fast breeder reactors might not result in commercially applicable programs any time soon, but in the age of Fukushima they may signal that China possesses world class nuclear power expertise. According to Mr. Hibbs, news of the efforts say, “Look, China is a high-technology nuclear country.”

　　像快推這樣的突破并不一定很快帶來商業(yè)化項(xiàng)目，但在福島時(shí)代，這些突破或許說明中國擁有世界級(jí)的核能專長。據(jù)海布斯說，有關(guān)這些努力的新聞都表明，看，中國是一個(gè)高科技核國家。