美国航天飞机“挑战者”号失事和苏联切尔诺贝利四号核电厂爆炸,发生严重火灾,这两大事件鲜明地提出了将先进技术应用于新的领域将会遇到的问题。虽然本文只涉及苏联核电厂爆炸引起的问题,但文中很多观点也适用于“挑战者”号灾难事件。在讨论本文将提出的要点之前,我们应提出并回答两个普遍关心的问题。第一个问题是“中国会碰到核电厂的安全问题吗?”我相信回答是十分肯定的,因为我确信在某个时候核电必将是中国能源的重要组成部分。第二个问题是“核能可达到可接受的安全程度吗?”同样,我确信回答也是肯定的,但是还必须作相当的工作,才能达到我所谓“可接受”的程度。当然,何谓“可接受的”,其含义是需要予以阐明的。若全面展开关于“可接受的安全程度”的讨论,势必会偏离本 The U.S. Space Shuttle Challenger crash and the explosion of the Soviet Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant No.4 caused a serious fire. These two incidents clearly set forth the problems that will be encountered in applying advanced technology to new fields. Although this article only deals with the problems caused by the explosion of the Soviet nuclear power plant, many of the ideas in this article also apply to the “Challenger” disaster. Before discussing the main points to be raised in this paper, we should propose and answer two questions of general concern. The first question is, “Will China meet the safety issue of nuclear power plants?” I believe the answer is quite certain because I am certain that nuclear power will certainly be an important part of China's energy at some point. The second question is “can nuclear reach an acceptable level of security?” Likewise, I am sure the answer is yes, but it must also be done to achieve what I call “acceptable” levels. Of course, what is meant by “acceptable” means that its meaning needs to be clarified. A full-scale discussion of “acceptable levels of safety” is bound to deviate from this