[ti:US to Offer Nuclear Waste Technology to Other Countries] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.00]The U.S. Department of Energy's nuclear security office [00:05.92]is developing a project to help other countries deal with nuclear waste. [00:13.29]The information comes from two sources [00:17.50]who spoke to the Reuters news agency. [00:21.94]They asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue. [00:27.74]The sources say the plan aims to keep the United States competitive [00:34.95]against other countries that are developing their own waste technology. [00:41.58]For example, both Russia and France offer services to take care of nuclear waste. [00:51.06]Dov Schwartz is the spokesman for the National Nuclear Security Administration. [00:58.48]He confirmed the group is thinking about [01:02.01]how to help other countries reduce nuclear waste. [01:06.61]However, Schwartz did not give details. [01:10.29]The NNSA also declined a Reuters request for an interview [01:18.44]with Brent Park, who is leading the effort. [01:22.57]The unnamed sources say the technology could involve crushing, heating [01:30.64]or sending an electric current through nuclear waste to reduce its size. [01:37.41]The machinery to do so would be put in a "black box" the size of a shipping container. [01:45.95]It would be sent to other countries with nuclear energy programs; [01:51.59]however, it would remain owned and operated by the United States, the sources said. [02:00.31]The sources did not name countries to which the service would be offered. [02:07.08]They also did not say where the waste would be stored [02:12.25]after it is run through the equipment. [02:16.62]But they said they were worried the processes [02:19.46]could increase the risk of dangerous materials [02:22.96]reaching militant groups or nations unfriendly to the United States. [02:29.47]Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter banned nuclear waste reprocessing in 1977. [02:39.73]The reprocessing opens pure amounts of uranium and plutonium, [02:46.53]both of which could be used to make nuclear bombs. [02:50.76]NNSA spokesperson Dov Schwartz said the plans [02:57.68]under consideration do not involve reprocessing. [03:01.52]But he did not say what technologies could be used. [03:06.77]The government of U.S. President Donald Trump [03:11.45]has made promoting nuclear technology abroad a high priority. [03:17.79]The U.S. Energy Secretary, Rick Perry, visited Saudi Arabia this month [03:24.85]for talks on a nuclear energy deal with the kingdom. [03:29.81]And the American business Westinghouse hopes [03:34.33]to sell nuclear power technology to countries from Saudi Arabia to India. [03:41.96]But a top arms control officer during the Obama administration [03:49.51]questions the direction of the Trump government. [03:54.16]Thomas Countryman said the U.S. should improve its ability [03:58.88]to get rid of its own nuclear waste before helping other countries. [04:05.36]A nuclear expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists [04:11.50]also expressed some doubt about the NNSA plan. [04:17.04]Edwin Lyman said NNSA should not be focused so much [04:23.57]on reducing the size of nuclear waste. [04:27.33]Instead, it should be concerned about the dangers [04:30.91]of nuclear waste that make it hard to store. [04:35.56]Lyman said even a small amount of nuclear waste [04:40.81]gives off radioactivity and heat. [04:44.83]It "remains dangerous for hundreds of thousands of years," he said. [04:51.55]I'm Susan Shand. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM