A power company in central Japan says it is suspending operations at the country's fourth largest nuclear power station until it makes safety improvements.
日本中部地区的一家电力公司说，将暂时关闭日本第四大核电站，直到安全性能得到进一步的改善。

Monday’s announcement comes after Japan's Prime Minister asked the plant to halt operations because of concerns over the facility’s vulnerability to earthquakes and tsunami.
星期一公布这条消息之前，日本首相已经要求该电站停止运行，因为担心该电站无法承受地震和海啸的冲击。

The Hamaoka plant of Chubu Electric Power sits on the Pacific coast in an area that seismologists say is long-overdue for a massive earthquake. By one government estimate, there is an 87 percent chance that a quake of magnitude eight or higher will strike in the next 30 years.
日本中部电力公司下属的滨冈核电站座落在太平洋沿岸，地震学家早就预测，这一地区会发生大地震。日本政府的一项预测显示，该地区在今后30年内发生8级或8级以上大地震的可能性高达87%。

The worry is that a huge quake could knock external power supplies offline and cause a tsunami that would inundate the plant, which is the same thing that happened at the Fukushima Daiichi power station.
人们担心，大地震可能会切断外部供电，地震引发的海啸会淹没这座核电站，就像福岛核电站那样。

The government has requested Hamaoka suspend operations until safety improvements can be made.
日本政府要求暂时关闭滨冈核电站，直到安全措施得到改善。

Chubu Electric President Akihisa Mizuno announced the decision at a news conference.
日本中部电力公司总裁在新闻发布会上宣布了这一消息。

Mizuno says the company has decided to stop reactors 4 and 5 and postpone plans to restart reactor 3, which is currently stopped for maintenance.
他说，公司决定暂时关闭滨冈核电站4号和5号反应堆，并且推迟重新启动3号反应堆的计划。目前3号反应堆正在进行检修。

On Friday, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan asked the company to stop Hamaoka, but he did not have legal authority to do so. Chubu Electric's board met Saturday and resisted the prime minister’s call.
上星期五，日本首相菅直人要求日本中部电力公司停止滨冈核电站的运行，但是菅直人没有下令停止运行的权力。日本中部电力公司董事会星期六召开会议，拒绝了首相的建议。

The Japanese government has said it will work with the privately-run company to cover the extra expense of halting the plant’s operations.
日本政府曾经表示，愿意和这家私营公司合作，并支付停止核电站的费用。

The suspension could limit the electricity supply in central Japan. Hamaoka supplies one-tenth of the power used in the region, which is home to numerous factories including the headquarters of Toyota, the world's biggest car maker.
滨冈核电站暂停使用会减少日本中部地区的供电量。滨冈核电站提供该地区十分之一的电力，该地区有很多大企业，世界最大的汽车制造商丰田汽车公司的总部就设在这里。

Companies are already voluntarily reducing power use. There are worries that a hot summer could bring mandatory power cuts and disrupt factories.
该地区的企业已经自动减少了用电量，但是人们担心，炎热的夏天可能迫使厂家减少用电，甚至影响到生产。

Chubu Electric can restart older coal and gas-fired plants that had been taken out of service, but that will only make up about half the shortfall of the Hamaoka plant.
日本中部电力公司可以重新启动已经废弃了的燃煤和天然气发电站，但也只能弥补滨冈核电站停产造成短缺的一半。

The decision is a victory for anti-nuclear groups that have long labeled Hamaoka as the country's most dangerous nuclear power plant.
暂时关闭滨冈核电站是反核组织的胜利，因为他们早就把滨冈核电站列为日本最危险的核电站。

Calls for its closure have been made at rallies in Japanese cities almost every week since the nuclear emergency began unfolding in Fukushima.
自从福岛核危机以来，日本各城市几乎每个星期都举行要求关闭滨冈核电站的示威。