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In 1957 work began on Project Pluto, a treetop-skimming American missile loaded with hydrogen bombs.
1957年，冥王星計劃開始，這是一個搭載了氫彈的美國導彈。
Nothing odd about that, except that the missile itself was also to be propelled by nuclear energy.
這沒什么奇異之處，除了這枚導彈本身也是由核能驅動的。
A reactor on board would suck in air, heat and thus expand it, and then hurl it out of the back to provide thrust.
導彈上的反應堆吸收空氣、加熱并使其膨脹，然后將其從后部拋出以提供推力。
Unfortunately, this also spewed out radioactive particles— which would hardly matter in war,
不幸的是，放射性粒子也被噴出—在戰爭中，這幾乎是沒有關系的，
but meant the missile could not be tested safely, and so the project was cancelled.
但這意味無法對這枚導彈進行安全的測試，所以該計劃被取消了。
America's experience has not, however, deterred Vladimir Putin, Russia's president.
但美國的經歷沒有打消俄羅斯總統弗拉基米爾·普京的念頭。
In March 2018 he announced the development of a Pluto-like missile called Burevestnik
2018年3月，他宣布開發一種類似冥王星計劃的導彈名為Burevestnik，
("petrel", a bird regarded by sailors of old as a harbinger of storms).
（即“海燕”，一種被水手們認為是暴風雨先兆的鳥）。
This has since been tested in Novaya Zemlya, and has crashed several times.
這種導彈已在新地島進行了測試，但失敗了好幾次。
On August 8th there was another accident ascribed by many observers to Burevestnik.
8月8日，又發生了另一起事故，很多觀察者將該事故歸咎于Burevestnik。
Seven scientists perished in a rocket explosion on an offshore platform near Arkhangelsk. The damage was widespread.
7名科學家在阿爾漢格爾斯克附近的一次海上平臺火箭爆炸事故中遇難。摧毀范圍廣泛。
Some reports suggest that on August 13th Nyonoksa, a village 40km away,
一些報道表明8月13日，在此處輻射超過背景值后，
was almost evacuated after radiation there exceeded background levels.
400米遠處的一個村莊Nyonoksa幾乎疏散一空。
As Michael Elleman, a missile expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a think-tank,
根據智囊團國際戰略研究所的一名導彈專家Michael Elleman的觀察，
observes, nuclear propulsion can work in two ways. One is fission reaction—the sort used in power stations.
核能推進起作用的方式有兩種。一種是裂變反應—發電站使用的方式。
But, as Project Pluto's designers found, that is tricky to fit in a missile.
但根據冥王星計劃設計者的發現，這對于導彈來說是很棘手的。
The other option is radioisotope decay, which uses a substance such as polonium-218 to heat and evaporate a liquid.
另一個選擇是放射性同位素衰變，即利用一種物質，如polonium-218，加熱并蒸發液體。
The gas generated might be employed to propel probes through the vacuum of space,
產生的氣體或許可用于推動探測器穿過真空空間
but because it produces less thrust than fission the process has not been thought suitable for missiles.
但因為它產生的推力比裂變小，因此這個過程被認為不適用于導彈。
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