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The discreet charm of nuclear power
核能的谨慎魅力
In the negotiations which led up to the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, Saudi Arabia spent a great deal of time attempting to insert the term “environmentally safe and sound” in front of references to “energy sources” and “energy supplies”. Given that the oil Saudi Arabia exports in greater quantities than any other country is now understood to be anything but environmentally safe, this seems bizarre. At the time, though, the aim was obvious to all concerned: the phrase was a way to keep nuclear power off the Rio agenda.
在促成1992年里约热内卢地球首脑会议的谈判中，沙特阿拉伯花了大量时间试图在提到“能源”和“能源供应”之前植入“环境安全和健康”一词。考虑到沙特阿拉伯出口的石油数量比其他任何国家都多，人们现在认为这些石油对环境都不安全，这似乎很奇怪。不过，在当时，这个目的对于相关人员来说显而易见：这句话是将核电排除在里约议程之外的一种方式。
The oil shocks of the 1970s had led to many countries increasing their nuclear efforts. In the ten years to 1992 the amount of nuclear energy consumed worldwide had increased by 130%. What was more, some talked of using nuclear plants to produce not just electricity, but also hydrogen which could then form the basis of synthetic fuels. The Saudis may or may not have had real concerns about the environment. But they knew a competitor when they saw one.
20世纪70年代的石油危机导致许多国家加大了核开发的力度。在截至1992年之前的十年间，全世界的核能消耗量增加了130%。更重要的是，一些人谈到利用核电站不仅可以发电，还可以生产氢气，从而形成合成燃料的基础。沙特人可能对环境有真正的担忧，也可能没有。但他们一眼就能认出竞争对手。
Their scheming proved unnecessary. In contrast to the oil shocks, the threat of global warming has not served the nuclear cause well. After peaking in 2006, the amount of nuclear energy consumed in 2019 was just 18% higher than it had been in 1992. As a share of global primary energy, it had fallen from 6.1% to 4.3%.
事实证明，他们的阴谋诡计是不必要的。与石油危机相比，全球变暖的威胁对核能事业没有什么好处。在2006年达到峰值后，2019年的核能消费量仅比1992年高出18%。在全球主要能源的份额中，它已经从6.1%下降到4.3%。
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