科學家建造迷你星爲未來提供電力
Engineers and scientists are constructing a huge mini-star, which will produce the same reactions that happen in the sun to provide energy for the future.
工程師和科學家們正在建設一個巨大的迷你星，這將產生與太陽同樣的反應，爲未來提供能量。The project, known as Iter, is based in Cadarache, near Aix-en-Provence in southern France. It will weigh three times as much as the Eiffel Tower and be as big as 60 football pitches.
該項目，稱之爲國際熱核聚變實驗堆，建在卡達拉奇，就在法國南部的艾克斯省附近。它將是埃菲爾鐵塔的三倍重，與60個足球場一樣大。
Inside the new building will be a nuclear reactor that scientists hope can provide power through nuclear fusion. In doing so it could generate clean, safe energy and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
這個新的建築物內部是一個核反應堆，科學家們希望能通過核聚變提供電力。這樣做可以產生清潔、安全的能源，減少對化石燃料的依賴。
Earlier this year, the team behind the project appointed a new leader, Bernard Bigot.
今年早些時候,該項目背後的團隊任命了一位新的領導人,伯納德·比戈。"We are now entering into manufacturing and preparations for assembly," he said as he joined in March. Bigot said that he had joined as part of a new management team that was set up to deliver "both a research and an industrial facility".
"我們正打算開始進行生產製造，還有爲大會進行籌備工作，"他於3月份加入時說道。比戈說他加入了一個新的管理團隊，成爲了其中的一份子。這個管理團隊是設立起來作爲"既是研發機構，又是產業設施"。Inside that facility there will be a smaller and controlled version of the same reactions that happen in our sun, nuclear fusion. That happens when two atomic nuclei collide with each other, releasing energy in the form of photons. The scientists hope to harness that energy and re-use it, to replace the dirty and limited forms of energy that we use today.
設施內部會有一個較小的，與太陽核聚變相同反應的控制版本。當兩個原子核相互碰撞時，就會以光子的形式釋放出能量。科學家們希望能夠駕馭住這股能量，然後重複使用它，用以取代我們當前使用的骯髒的，有限形式的能量。The project was launched in an early stage in 1987. It is now being pushed forward by a group of seven entities — including the EU, as well as the US, Russia and China.
該項目於1987年開始進入其初期階段。現在由一個7個實體集團共同推動——其中包括歐盟，美國，俄羅斯和中國。Since then, the project has repeatedly run into problems, with the schedule being pushed back. But scientists hope that early operations can begin in the 2020s, with harnessed energy coming sometime after that.
自那時以來,該項目就不斷遇到問題,計劃也被推遲。但是科學家希望可以從2020年代開始進行早期操作,從那之後就可以開始駕馭這股能量了。Iter is the Latin for "the way" — intended to highlight the possibilities of the energy as a way of creating safe and peaceful power for the world. But it was once known as International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, a name that was dropped because of its potential worrying connotations.
國際熱核聚變實驗堆的縮寫"Iter"在拉丁語裏面表示"方式"——旨在突出將這股能源作爲爲世界創造安全與和平力量的方式。但它曾經一度都以全稱形式出現，之所以放棄使用全稱是因爲它潛在的令人擔憂的內涵。
