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Energy Security and Nuclear Power

Master 10 essential C1 vocabulary terms and speak confidently about modern energy systems in 20 minutes.

📋 How to use this lesson

For the Teacher:

Guide students through the 10 core energy terms in 20 minutes.

Check answers together in class using the automated feedback and explanations.

For the Learner:

Read each word, its collocations, and the memory tip first.

Test yourself in the practice tasks and record your voice in the shadowing section.

Word Table

Study the 10 terms grouped by theme. Use the tips to lock in their meanings quickly.

1. Security of supply

Word	Meaning	Common collocations	Word forms	Example sentence	Memory tip
dependency	a state of relying completely on someone or something else	heavy dependency, reduce dependency, energy dependency	depend (v), dependent (adj)	The state cut its dependency on imported gas by building wind farms.	Think of someone hanging down ("depend") and clinging on tightly.
shortfall	an amount that is less than the quantity needed	face a shortfall, supply shortfall, cover a shortfall	–	Cold winter days created an unexpected power shortfall across the city.	Picture an arrow that "falls short" of its target mark.
outage	a period when an electricity or power service stops working	power outage, major outage, unplanned outage	–	Storm winds knocked down main lines and triggered a regional outage.	The lights are "out" for an "age" (a long time).
diversify	to increase the variety of things you use, produce, or buy	diversify the energy mix, diversify suppliers, diversify sources	diversification (n), diverse (adj)	Planners decided to diversify suppliers to protect national grid security.	Sounds like "diverse"; putting eggs into many different baskets.

2. Nuclear power

Word	Meaning	Common collocations	Word forms	Example sentence	Memory tip
reactor	a large apparatus in which nuclear fission produces energy	nuclear reactor, shut down a reactor, build a reactor	–	Engineers safely cooled the primary reactor during scheduled maintenance.	The heavy steel chamber where atomic particles react together.
uranium	a heavy, dense, radioactive metal used as fuel for nuclear reactions	enriched uranium, mine uranium, uranium fuel	–	Enriched uranium delivers immense heat inside modern power plants.	Named after planet Uranus: exotic, deep, and heavy.
radioactive	emitting dangerous particles or ionizing radiation	radioactive waste, highly radioactive, radioactive material	radioactivity (n)	Workers store radioactive waste in thick concrete pools underground.	Think of waves radiating out actively like invisible beams.

3. Running the system

Word	Meaning	Common collocations	Word forms	Example sentence	Memory tip
intermittent	stopping and starting at irregular intervals; not continuous	intermittent power, intermittent supply, intermittent generation	intermittently (adv)	Solar generation is intermittent because clouds frequently block sunlight.	Like an intermission in a play: it pauses and resumes.
baseload	the permanent minimum load that an electrical grid must provide	baseload power, baseload electricity, provide baseload	–	Nuclear stations supply dependable baseload all day and night.	The base (bottom foundation) of the energy load.
decommission	to take a facility or reactor permanently out of service	decommission a plant, decommission a reactor, fully decommission	decommissioning (n)	The operator will safely decommission the aging plant over ten years.	Opposite of "commission": taking away the official job or power.

Practice

Complete the 16 tasks below to test your understanding.

Part 1: Collocation Matrix

Match each action verb to the noun it naturally pairs with in energy contexts.

1. Which noun collocates naturally in the phrase "reduce ___ on imported gas"?

____ dependency ____ outage ____ reactor ____ shortfall

2. Which noun collocates naturally in the phrase "cover a ___ in supply"?

____ dependency ____ shortfall ____ outage ____ reactor

3. Which noun collocates naturally in the phrase "the power ___ lasted for three hours"?

____ reactor ____ dependency ____ shortfall ____ outage

4. Which noun collocates naturally with the phrasal verb "shut down"?

____ shortfall ____ reactor ____ dependency ____ outage

Part 2: Word Bank Gap-Fills

Choose the right word from the bank below and type it into the sentence.

Word Bank: baseload diversify radioactive decommission

5. A: "Why do we keep nuclear plants running around the clock?"
B: "Because the power grid requires steady ____ electricity that cannot fail."

6. A: "Should we purchase all our fuel from one exporter?"
B: "No, we must ____ our partners to avoid geopolitical blackmail."

7. Spent fuel rods remain highly ____ for centuries and need shielded storage.

8. When a nuclear facility reaches the end of its lifespan, technicians safely ____ the entire installation.

Part 3: Choose the Word

Select the single word that fits the context. Every option forms correct grammar, but only one matches the intended meaning.

9. The ministry warned that an unexpected cold wave could trigger a severe power ___ across the domestic grid.

____ outage ____ uranium ____ baseload

10. Because wind generation is naturally ___, grid managers keep gas turbines on standby for calm days.

____ intermittent ____ radioactive ____ diverse

11. A sharp winter supply freeze left the utility company facing an acute gas ___.

____ shortfall ____ reactor ____ dependency

12. Rising global demand has pushed mining companies to extract more raw ___ from deep underground reserves.

____ uranium ____ reactor ____ outage

Part 4: Word Formation

Complete the sentences by changing the word in brackets into the correct form from our lesson list.

13. Coastal wind turbines generate electricity ____ (intermittent) whenever ocean gusts pick up.

14. Over the last decade, heavy industry became overly ____ (dependency) on cheap foreign pipelines.

15. Monitoring devices detected tiny traces of ____ (radioactive) near the cooling pool.

16. The government published a plan for rapid energy ____ (diversify) to improve self-reliance.

Shadowing

Listen to the speaker, shadow the rhythm aloud, and record your pronunciation.

1. Natural Collocations

Listen to each energy phrase and record yourself saying it smoothly.

Collocation 1

severe power outage

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Collocation 2

heavy dependency on gas

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Collocation 3

constant baseload supply

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Collocation 4

decommission old reactors

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

2. Spoken Sentences

Shadow these natural sentences. Listen carefully to rhythm and thought groups.

Sentence 1

Last year, imports covered roughly half of the country's gas.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Sentence 2

A winter shortfall could quickly force local factories to shut down.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Sentence 3

The local power grid suffered a sudden outage this morning.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Sentence 4

Clean nuclear energy supplies steady baseload power around the clock.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Sentence 5

Engineers will inspect the reactor before restarting the plant next month.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Sentence 6

We must diversify our suppliers to keep homes warm all winter.

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

3. Tricky Pronunciation Focus

Pay close attention to syllable stress in these two technical words.

Tricky Word 1

uranium

/jʊəˈreɪ.ni.əm/ (stress on 2nd syllable)

🔊 Listen

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Tricky Word 2

intermittent

/ˌɪn.təˈmɪt.ənt/ (stress on 3rd syllable)

🔊 Listen

[Bài tập luyện nói]

____

Vocabulary & Pronunciation: Energy Security

Energy Security and Nuclear Power

📋 How to use this lesson

Word Table

Practice

Part 1: Collocation Matrix

Part 2: Word Bank Gap-Fills

Part 3: Choose the Word

Part 4: Word Formation

Shadowing

1. Natural Collocations

2. Spoken Sentences

3. Tricky Pronunciation Focus

uranium

intermittent

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