单选题
Although many governments try to convince their
respective subjects that atomic energy is an acceptable alternative {{U}}
{{U}} 1 {{/U}} {{/U}}the burning of fossil fuels, no government has
taken the least trouble to explain the dangers. Maybe they are {{U}}
{{U}} 2 {{/U}} {{/U}}them. {{U}} {{U}} 3 {{/U}}
{{/U}}the reason, the public must learn by experience, even though this {{U}}
{{U}} 4 {{/U}} {{/U}}may be catastrophic. While it
is true that nuclear reactors do not produce visible smoke, it is certainly not
{{U}} {{U}} 5 {{/U}} {{/U}}that they do not pollute. And the
pollution they produce is much more insidious precisely because it is {{U}}
{{U}} 6 {{/U}} {{/U}}. {{U}} {{U}} 7
{{/U}} {{/U}}inconvenient it may be for governments to publish all the facts,
they have no moral excuse for not doing so, {{U}} {{U}} 8
{{/U}} {{/U}}they think they are acting in our best interest. At least some of
the facts are known, even though they are not widely reported.
Nuclear reactors produce radioactive water and gases in vast {{U}} {{U}}
9 {{/U}} {{/U}}. What {{U}} {{U}} 10 {{/U}} {{/U}}all
this waste? It is {{U}} {{U}} 11 {{/U}} {{/U}}concrete tanks and
stored on tank farms. It is {{U}} {{U}} 12 {{/U}} {{/U}}in
disused salt mines. It is run into fractured rock. It is buried. It is {{U}}
{{U}} 13 {{/U}} {{/U}}about in special trains. But even when dumped,
it has to be kept {{U}} {{U}} 14 {{/U}} {{/U}}by sprinklers to
stop it from boiling. And the contents of the tanks are, of course, extremely
corrosive. The efforts of a fracture in the tank or a failure of the cooling
system would be {{U}} {{U}} 15 {{/U}} {{/U}}.
While every effort is made to {{U}} {{U}} 16 {{/U}} {{/U}}that
radioactive wastes do not escape into the sea or {{U}} {{U}} 17
{{/U}} {{/U}}supplies of drinking water, such a leakage would be too horrible
{{U}} {{U}} 18 {{/U}} {{/U}}contemplate. But even then,
governments would, presumably continue to belittle the hazards.
It seems that {{U}} {{U}} 19 {{/U}} {{/U}}governments can get
away with not telling the truth, they will continue to keep silent. Nevertheless
the people {{U}} {{U}} 20 {{/U}} {{/U}}to know the full facts.
Do you know what happens to the radioactive waste in your country? No? Well—find
out!