A case in point is the Shoreham plant on New York’s Long Island. Shoreham was a virtual twin to the Millstone plant in Connecticut, both ordered in the mid’ 60s. Millstone, completed for $ 101 million, has been generating electricity for two decades. Shoreham, however, was singled out by anti-nuclear activists who, by sending in endless protests, drove the cost over $ 5 billion and delayed its use for many.
Shoreham finally won it operation license. But the plant has never produced a watt of power. Governor Mario Cuomo, an opponent of a Shoreham start-up, used his power to force New York’ s public-utilities commission to accept the following settlement: the power company could pass the cost of Shoreham along to its consumers only if it agreed not to operate the plant! Today, a perfectly good facility, capable of servicing hundreds of thousands of homes, sits rusting.
36. What has made the procedure for licensing nuclear power plants a bad dream?
A) The inefficiency of the Nuclear Regulation Commission.
B) The enormous cost of construction and operation.
C) The length of time it takes to make investigations.
D) The objection of the opponents of nuclear power.
37. It can be inferred from Paragraph 2 that ________.
A) it is not technical difficulties that prevent the building of nuclear power plants in the U. S.
B) there are not enough safety measures in the U. S. for running new nuclear power plants
C) there are already more nuclear power plants than necessary in the U. S.
D) the American government will not allow Japanese nuclear reactors to be installed in the U. S.
38. Any objection, however trivial it may be, can ________.
A) force the power companies to cancel the project
B) delay the construction or operation of a nuclear plant
C) cause a serious debate within the Nuclear Regulation Commission
D) take the builders to court
39. Governor Mario’s chief intention in proposing the settlement was to________.
上一页 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 下一页
