VOA慢速英語(yǔ):TEPCO Prepares for Critical Periods of Fukushima Clean-up

From VOA Learning English, this is the Technology Report.

這里是美國(guó)之音慢速英語(yǔ)科技報(bào)道。

Workers at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan will soon begin one of the most important periods of the clean-up efforts. They will be removing the fuel rods from one of the worst-hit reactors. More than 1500 fuel rods sit in a damaged storage pool 30 meters above ground inside the reactor 4 building.

日本受損的福島第一核電站的工人們很快將開(kāi)始進(jìn)入清理工作最重要的一個(gè)階段。他們將從受損最嚴(yán)重的反應(yīng)堆中取出燃料棒。超過(guò)1500根燃料棒放置在四號(hào)反應(yīng)堆建筑內(nèi)高出地面30米以上的受損儲(chǔ)存槽中。

TEPCO, the Tokyo Electric Power company owns the nuclear power station. Critics say TEPCO should not be trusted to carry out the operation. However, TEPCO General Manager Masayuki Ono says the operation has been carefully planned.

該核電站為東京電力公司所有。批評(píng)人士表示，東京電力公司不應(yīng)該被信任進(jìn)行這一操作。然而，東京電力公司總經(jīng)理小野正幸(Masayuki Ono)表示，這次操作經(jīng)過(guò)了精心的策劃。

He explains that because the reactor 4 building was destroyed by a hydrogen explosion, TEPCO had to rebuild the structure. This happened during the first year, the new building he says is stronger than the old one.

他解釋說(shuō)，因?yàn)樗奶?hào)反應(yīng)堆建筑被氫氣爆炸所摧毀，東京電力公司不得不重建這一結(jié)構(gòu)。這件事發(fā)生在第一年。他表示新建筑比舊的要更強(qiáng)。

The hydrogen explosion left pieces of wreckage all over the inside of the pool. TEPCO's first job is to remove this debris. Then, workers will remove the fuel rods one by one, they will use a crane suspended above the building.

氫氣爆炸使得儲(chǔ)存槽內(nèi)部到處是殘骸碎片。東京電力公司的第一項(xiàng)工作就是取出這些碎片。然后，工人們將使用建筑上方懸掛的一臺(tái)起重機(jī)挨個(gè)取出燃料棒。

The fuel rods must not touch each other or break. Nuclear experts warn that any accidents could cause an explosion many times worse than the one in March 2011.

燃料棒之間不能互相接觸，也不能損壞。核專(zhuān)家警告說(shuō)，任何意外都可能造成比2011年3月嚴(yán)重很多倍的爆炸。

Mitsuhei Murata is Japan's former ambassador to Switzerland and an anti-nuclear activist. He notes the problems over the past 30 months - including radioactive water leaks - have raised questions about TEPCO' s ability to carry out this operation.

村田(Mitsuhei Murata)是日本駐瑞士前大使，也是一名反核活動(dòng)人士。他指出，過(guò)去30個(gè)月包括放射性水泄漏在內(nèi)的一些問(wèn)題使得人們對(duì)東京電力公司執(zhí)行這項(xiàng)操作的能力提出了質(zhì)疑。

"The Unit 4 contains 10 times more Cesium-137 than Chernobyl. So in case the worst occurs, a total withdrawal [from the site] will be imposed, which means this can be considered as the beginning of the ultimate catastrophe of the world and the planet."

“4號(hào)機(jī)組里含有的銫-137比切諾貝利核電站多十倍以上。所以在最壞的情況下，該電站將全部撤離，這意味著，它可能是地球上最嚴(yán)重災(zāi)難的開(kāi)始。”

Japan has called on foreign expert to assist in the operation. Hironori Nakanishi is the Director-General for Energy Policy at the government's Agency for Natural Resources and Energy.

日本已經(jīng)呼吁外國(guó)專(zhuān)家對(duì)此提供協(xié)助。仲西博紀(jì)(Hironori Nakanishi)是日本政府下屬的日本自然資源和能源署的能源政策總干事。

"The sole responsibility in managing the situation safely is still on TEPCO corporation. But still we are in the same boat and we have to support their activity. So in order to achieve that goal we asked the specialists all over the world, from United States, the UK, France, Russia and Ukraine."

他說(shuō)，“確保安全的唯一責(zé)任壓在是東京電力公司身上。但我們同坐一條船，必須對(duì)他們的行動(dòng)提供支持。因此，為了實(shí)線(xiàn)這一目標(biāo)，我們邀請(qǐng)了來(lái)自美國(guó)、英國(guó)、法國(guó)、俄羅斯和烏克蘭的專(zhuān)家。”

Inspectors from Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority have approved TEPCO's planned operation to remove the fuel from Reactor 4. The process is expected to begin in November and to take up to 18 months to complete.

來(lái)自日本核監(jiān)管局的監(jiān)察員已經(jīng)批準(zhǔn)了東京電力公司從四號(hào)反應(yīng)堆取出燃料棒的操作計(jì)劃。這一過(guò)程預(yù)計(jì)從11月開(kāi)始，歷時(shí)18個(gè)月以上方能完成。