Russia's seizure of nuclear power plant raises international concerns

Russia's seizure¹ of nuclear power plant raises international concerns

Transcript²

Russian forces have seized a Ukraine nuclear power plant and are advancing on a second, about 75 miles north of the city of Mykolaiv — raising concerns about nuclear safety.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

We travel next to a Ukrainian nuclear power plant. The world watched last week as Russians took control of one such plant in Ukraine. Fire broke out on the site as combat raged nearby. Other plants remain in Ukrainian government control. And NPR's Tim Mak visited one.

TIM MAK, BYLINE³: The northern part of Rivne Oblast near the Belarussian border is a harsh place in winter. A light snow is falling as we enter the town of Varash, past concrete checkpoints and guards, some jumpier than others. Densely⁴ wooded areas crowd the road on both sides until, after a turn, these enormous structures appear on the horizon.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: We're approaching a nuclear plant (laughter).

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: We are approaching a nuclear plant.

MAK: They're gargantuan⁵ cooling towers, billowing steam into the sky. A plant spokesman says we're the first reporters to visit the Rivne nuclear plant site since the invasion. It's one of just three and the largest currently under Ukrainian control after the Russians attacked and took over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear site in southeastern Ukraine.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: (Non-English language spoken).

MAK: Just 700 meters down the road from the Rivne nuclear reactors⁷, we spoke⁶ with Pavlo Pavlyshyn, the director general of the station. I asked him whether he could guarantee the security and safety of the site.

PAVLO PAVLYSHYN: (Through interpreter) If more sophisticated weapons will be used against us, I think no one can assure the safety, but we are ready for it as well.

MAK: Though he did note that the Russians and Belarussians have made no moves towards the site and that his team was ready for any eventuality. He started the interview quietly, but the emotion, the toll⁸ of these last days of war appears to have been grinding on him as he talks about Russian nuclear scientists, people he considered his friends.

PAVLYSHYN: (Through interpreter) They don't have to keep it silent. Why do they keep it silent? Why do they just keep watching us? The war is really happening. Innocent children are really dying.

MAK: He says that the Russian military, which has captured Zaporizhzhia and the now decommissioned Chernobyl site, is specifically trying to target nuclear power sites. A senior Ukrainian military official, Ihor Voronchenko, agrees with this assessment⁹ in an interview.

IHOR VORONCHENKO: (Through interpreter) This is a means for blackmailing¹⁰ and threatening us. Putin will threaten us with these nuclear plants, and they won't use the nuclear weapon, but they will threaten to turn Zaporizhzhia into the next Chernobyl.

MAK: We also spoke to Vitaliy Koval, the governor of this region. Nuclear safety is on his mind daily.

VITALIY KOVAL: (Through interpreter) We know how important it is to have nuclear safety and everything because we remember Chernobyl. We felt the consequences of the Chernobyl accident in our region. Four districts were contaminated by nuclear energy. That was a problem.

MAK: Pavlo Pavlyshyn, the director general, says that if the Russians do attempt to take the Rivne nuclear power plant, he fully¹¹ expects the Ukrainian military will put up a fight. As we talk, the director general shares what he's telling his family, especially his 26-year-old son.

PAVLYSHYN: (Through interpreter) To run somewhere or to hide is just meaningless. I don't want to go back to where I was. I want to live freely for my kids, for my grandkids. I want them to be able to travel to Europe, get education, speak freely.

MAK: As our conversation ends, he emphasizes to us that he's not a political person. He's a nuclear scientist. He's never been political. But right now, in the perilous¹² situation he faces, that Ukrainians face, he says he cannot keep silent.

Tim Mak, NPR News, Rivne Oblast.

INSKEEP: We are following other news from the war, which is mostly news of things that have not happened. Negotiators are trying again for a ceasefire to allow civilians¹³ to escape combat zones in Ukraine. Past ceasefires have fallen apart amid barrages¹⁴ of Russian artillery¹⁵. Russia's invading forces have made only limited progress in the past day. A giant convoy¹⁶ of vehicles near Kyiv has yet to move.

1 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 densely   

ad.密集地；浓厚地

参考例句：

• A grove of trees shadowed the house densely. 树丛把这幢房子遮蔽得很密实。
• We passed through miles of densely wooded country. 我们穿过好几英里茂密的林地。

5 gargantuan   

adj.巨大的，庞大的

参考例句：

• My gargantuan,pristine machine was good for writing papers and playing solitaire,and that was all.我那庞大的、早期的计算机只适合写文章和玩纸牌游戏，就这些。
• Right away,I realized this was a mistake of gargantuan proportions.我立刻意识到这是一个巨大的错误。

6 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

7 reactors   

起反应的人( reactor的名词复数 )； 反应装置； 原子炉； 核反应堆

参考例句：

• The TMI nuclear facility has two reactors. 三哩岛核设施有两个反应堆。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• The earliest production reactors necessarily used normal uranium as fuel. 最早为生产用的反应堆，必须使用普通铀作为燃料。

8 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

9 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

10 blackmailing   

胁迫，尤指以透露他人不体面行为相威胁以勒索钱财( blackmail的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The policemen kept blackmailing him, because they had sth. on him. 那些警察之所以经常去敲他的竹杠是因为抓住把柄了。
• Democratic paper "nailed" an aggravated case of blackmailing to me. 民主党最主要的报纸把一桩极为严重的讹诈案件“栽”在我的头上。

11 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

12 perilous   

adj.危险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• The journey through the jungle was perilous.穿过丛林的旅行充满了危险。
• We have been carried in safety through a perilous crisis.历经一连串危机，我们如今已安然无恙。

13 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

14 barrages   

n.弹幕射击( barrage的名词复数 )；火力网；猛烈炮火；河上的堰坝v.火力攻击（或阻击）( barrage的第三人称单数 )；以密集火力攻击（或阻击）

参考例句：

• In many Basidiomycetes barrages develop. 在许多担子菌中也发生一些栅栏。 来自辞典例句
• It's fun to be able to run around and do instant Barrages. 一边瞬发奥术弹幕一边四处跑确实很有趣。 来自互联网

15 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

16 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。