Lesson 43 Our Developing World我们发展中的世界

Faith in controlled nuclear fission is now being shown by the construction of atomic power

stations. In Britain, Calder Hall on the coast of Cumberland first made its contribution to the

National Electricity grid in 1957. Subsequently a chain of nuclear power stations was planned. Of

necessity they are sited near the coasts or tidal water because of the need of much water for cooling

and a certain discharge of possible radioactive effluent. Atomic power is associated in the public

mind with the destructive force of atom bombs and partly for this reason, though it is claimed that

there is no danger to be associated with atomic power stations, they are being sited away from

populous centres.

The present position is that the three main sources of power are coal, oil and water power. We

sometimes refer to electricity ,gas or petrol as if they were the actual source of power , forgetting

that electricity must be generated by the consumption of coal or oil or by the utilization of water

power, whilst coke,gas and petrol are examples of secondary fuels by which coal and oil may be

more effectively used.

Where alternative sources of power are available there are some marked contrasts in handling. The

bulk and weight of coal required in the majority of manufacturing industries is large in comparison

with the bulk and weight of other raw materials. This is not always true--was with the manufacture

of pig iron and steel from low-grade iron ores-- but it did lead to the concentration of industrial

developments on the coal-fields, a phenomenon well seen in such countries as Britain where the

Industrial Revolution came before the days of oil or electricity. Coal being a solid must be

distributed mainly by rail or water.新概念英语课文下载

By way of contrast oil can be transported large distances by pipeline but overseas movement has

involved building of large numbers of tankers, including now some of the largest vessels afloat.

Unless suitable on other grounds oilfields have not become industrial regions; on the contrary the

oil industry is marked by a certain amount of smell and an element of danger, hence the siting of

refineries at a distance from population centres. It is not always realized that the owners of

pipelines can handle the oil of different customers, sending it through at different, periods.

Natural gas can also be transported large distances by pipe. Early in 1959 Britain received the

first ship cargo of natural gas----liquefied for the purpose of transport.