美国国家公共电台 NPR--Ukrainian nuclear plant, controlled by Russian forces, temporarily went off line

Ukrainian nuclear plant, controlled by Russian forces, temporarily went off line

Transcript¹

Conditions at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in Ukraine are deteriorating² as international monitors are hoping to visit the facility in the coming days.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Conditions are deteriorating at a Ukrainian nuclear plant currently under Russian occupation.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Yeah. On Thursday, the world's atomic watchdog warned that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant lost power twice, disconnecting for the first time ever from the power grid³ entirely⁴. It was all later restored, but it's still very troubling.

MART?NEZ: NPR's Geoff Brumfiel has been following all of this. Geoff, what's happening at the plant right now?

GEOFF BRUMFIEL, BYLINE⁵: Well, honestly, there is still a lot we don't know. But what we're told by the International Atomic Energy Agency is that the plant lost power, as you said. It was enough to trigger emergency systems at two operating nuclear reactors⁷ there. Now, a power line has since been reconnected to the plant.

MART?NEZ: So what caused the power to go out?

BRUMFIEL: Satellite imagery has shown wildfires burning very close to the plant and its power lines in recent days. It seems reasonable to assume they may have played a role. Russian state media says those fires were started by Ukrainian shelling. Ukraine blames the Russians. But of course, there's no way to know for sure.

MART?NEZ: But help me understand why a nuclear power plant needs power from the outside.

BRUMFIEL: The plant produces power, of course, but it also takes power from the grid, just like any other industrial facility would. And that power runs safety systems. It runs radiation monitors. And maybe most importantly, it runs cooling for the reactor⁶ cores. And that cooling in this case is the really big thing because even after a nuclear reactor shuts down its core, the nuclear fuel remains⁸ physically⁹ really hot, and cooling water is required to prevent it from melting down. In a speech last night, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said emergency diesel¹⁰ generators¹¹ actually had to be turned on to keep that cooling water running. And that's really one of the very last line of defense¹².

MART?NEZ: Now, on a scale of 1 to 10, Geoff, I mean, how worried should we be?

BRUMFIEL: Well, I asked Ed Lyman this very question - he's a nuclear expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists - and he told me he's up into the sort of seven to eight range at this point.

MART?NEZ: OK.

BRUMFIEL: I mean, it's not great. The danger here is that the site loses power again, the backup systems don't work right, and one or more of the reactors goes into meltdown. This would probably look a lot more like the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident, and we could see radiation spreading from Ukraine to parts of Europe, Russia, maybe even Turkey. It would depend on the weather. It's a scenario¹³, I think it's safe to say, nobody really wants to see.

MART?NEZ: OK. Considering the worry level is around seven to eight, can anything be done to prevent this?

BRUMFIEL: Well, ideally, there'd be some kind of demilitarized zone around the plant, but the Russians aren't willing to give up control. In fact, they've appeared to move some of their vehicles and troops even closer to the reactors in recent weeks. And short of that, the IAEA wants to send international monitors to the plant. Ukrainian officials want that visit to happen as early as next week.

MART?NEZ: All right. That's NPR's Geoff Brumfiel. Thanks a lot.

BRUMFIEL: Thanks.

1 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。

2 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

3 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

4 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

5 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。

6 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

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 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

10 diesel   

n.柴油发动机，内燃机

参考例句：

• We experimented with diesel engines to drive the pumps.我们试着用柴油机来带动水泵。
• My tractor operates on diesel oil.我的那台拖拉机用柴油开动。

11 generators   

n.发电机，发生器( generator的名词复数 )；电力公司

参考例句：

• The factory's emergency generators were used during the power cut. 工厂应急发电机在停电期间用上了。
• Power can be fed from wind generators into the electricity grid system. 电力可以从风力发电机流入输电网。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

13 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。