(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
From VOA Learning English, this is the Technology Report.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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."
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.
"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."
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.
And that's the Technology Report from VOA Learning English.
译文属可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载
词汇解释
1.reactor n. [化工] 反应器；[核] 反应堆；起反应的人
The fuel was enriched with uranium 235 for the nuclear reactor.
核反应堆的燃料被铀235浓缩。
2.hydrogen n. [化学] 氢
Water contains hydrogen and oxygen.
水含有氢和氧。
3.debris n. 碎片，残骸
The sea tided the debris ashore.
潮水将碎片冲上海滩。
4.radioactive adj. [核] 放射性的；有辐射的
Madame Curie was the physicist with expertise in chemistry that, in 1898, discovered the radioactive substances of radium and polonium in Paris, France.
居里夫人是一位具有化学专门知识的物理学家。 1898年，她在法国巴黎发现了放射性物质的镭和钋。
内容解析
1.But still we are in the same boat and we have to support their activity.
in the same boat 处境相同；面临同样的危险
We are in the same boat; we must help each other.
我们既然同舟，就要共济。
He and I are in the same boat; we both succeeded.
他和我一样，都成功了。
2.The process is expected to begin in November and to take up to 18 months to complete.
take up to 占用
Currently diagnosis can take up to a month, he says.
他说，目前的诊断最长需要花费一个月的时间。
But she said a legally binding agreement could take up to a year.
但是她说，达成具有法律约束力的协定需要一年时间。
参考译文
这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。
在日本受损的福岛核电站工作的人员将很快开始清理工作的最重要步骤，他们将把燃料棒从受损最严重的反应堆里取走，在4号反应堆建筑中高于地面30米的受损存储池中竖立着1500多个燃料棒。
东京电力公司(TEPCO)是这座核电站的拥有者，批评家称不应该将这一操作托付给TEPCO。然而，TEPCO总经理小野正幸说该操作经过了仔细的计划。
他解释说因为4号反应堆建筑被氢爆毁掉，TEPCO必须重建这座建筑。重建工作是在第一年完成的，他说新建筑比旧的更结实。
氢爆导致整个存储池中到处都是废墟碎片，TEPCO的第一项工作就是清理这些碎片。工人们将一个一个地将燃料棒挪走，他们使用悬吊在建筑物上的起重机来做这项工作。
燃料棒是不能相互接触或破裂的，核专家警告说，任何事故都可能导致比2011年3月更严重几倍的爆炸。
村田是前日本驻瑞士大使，也是一名反核活动人士。他指出，过去30个月来的问题，包括放射性水泄露，都让人质疑东京电力公司进行这项工作的能力。
“4号反应堆里含有的铯-137比切尔诺贝利的要多10倍以上，所以一旦发生最糟的情况，整个核电站将撤离，这意味着将发生全世界、地球上最严重的灾难。”
日本请外国专家来帮助这一操作，仲西博纪是日本政府自然资源和能源机构能源政策局长。
“确保安全操作的唯一责任在东京电力公司身上，但我们在一条船上，必须支持他们。所以为了实现这一目标，我们必须请全世界来自英国、法国、俄罗斯和乌克兰的专家来。”
来自日本核监管局的监察员已批准东京电力公司从4号反应堆移去燃料棒的操作计划，这一过程有望于11月开始，需要花费18个月的时间完成。
这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。
