美国国家公共电台 NPR--What caused 2 key natural gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea to rupture?

What caused 2 key natural gas pipelines² under the Baltic Sea to rupture³?

Transcript⁴

European officials have raised "sabotage⁵" concerns after seismologists say explosions preceded leaks in Russian-owned Nord Stream gas pipelines on Monday.

: [POST-BROADCAST CORRECTION: In this report, we mistakenly say the rupture of the Nord Stream pipelines released hundreds of millions of metric tons of methane⁶ gas. In fact, experts' current estimate is that hundreds of thousands of metric tons were released.]

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Europe is investigating what caused two key natural gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea to rupture.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Yeah, officials say the damage sustained by the pipelines running from Russia to Germany on Monday night appeared to be a deliberate attack. And some are accusing Russia of sabotage, which the Kremlin has called absurd.

MARTIN: NPR's Rob Schmitz is with us this morning. Hey, Rob.

ROB SCHMITZ, BYLINE⁷: Hey.

MARTIN: So the damaged pipelines that we're talking about, this is the Nord Stream 1 and the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipelines. Walk us through what happened to them.

SCHMITZ: Yeah. On Monday night, scientists detected two underwater explosions large enough to register on the Richter scale near the Danish island of Bornholm. Soon after that, operators of both the Nord Stream pipelines reported drops in pressure. And footage released by the Danish military showed a half-mile circle of white, churning sea, essentially⁸ hundreds of millions of metric tons of methane gas, a harmful greenhouse gas, bubbling up to the surface. Now, neither of these pipelines are active. Russia cut flows in Nord Stream 1 in August. And Nord Stream 2 never opened. But both of them were still filled with natural gas when the explosions happened.

MARTIN: So that's kind of a crazy sight to see this happen...

SCHMITZ: Yeah.

MARTIN: ...And this water bubbling up like that. Explosions - pipeline¹ explosions are really rare, especially underwater. What do authorities think happened?

SCHMITZ: European leaders believe this was not an accident. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said this to reporters yesterday.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRIME MINISTER METTE FREDERIKSEN: (Non-English language spoken).

SCHMITZ: And, Rachel, she's saying here that we can't rule out that this was an act of sabotage. This is an unusual situation where you have three leaks on two gas pipelines in the same area, but with some distance between them. So she says it's hard to believe it was a coincidence.

MARTIN: So the question is, now, why would anyone want to intentionally⁹ blow up these pipelines? And how would that have been accomplished¹⁰?

SCHMITZ: Right. Both were key pipelines that delivered Russian gas to Western Europe. Nord Stream 1 is majority-owned by a Russian energy company, Gazprom. And Nord Stream 2 is owned by a Swiss subsidiary of Gazprom. The U.S. criticized both pipelines, saying they made Europe, especially Germany, too dependent on Russia. Germany never opened Nord Stream 2 as a stance against Russian aggression¹¹. And Russia cut all gas in Nord Stream 1 as retaliation¹² for EU sanctions. Russian state-owned news hinted the U.S. was behind this. But many in Europe are pointing the finger at Moscow. Poland's prime minister called this the next stage in Russia's war escalation¹³. This leaves open the question as to why Russia would attack its own pipelines. But neither pipeline is being used. And Europe is working hard to replace the Russian gas that flowed inside these pipelines.

MARTIN: So I mean, how would they have even done this? I mean, if these suspicions are correct and it was Russia, how would it have happened?

SCHMITZ: Yeah, the investigation¹⁴ just started. But the pipelines are in water that is just a couple hundred feet deep. If a submarine did this, authorities should have detected that. One military source speculates that mines may have been laid from a disguised commercial vessel¹⁵ and then detonated later on.

MARTIN: Wow.

SCHMITZ: What's interesting here is these explosions took place just outside the territorial¹⁶ waters of Denmark. So it's the kind of detail that might be expected from a state actor who wanted to be sure that it wasn't carried out on a member of NATO. Also, the owners of the pipelines - companies based in Russia and Switzerland - are not headquartered in NATO territory. So both the location of the explosions and the property damage would not, under international treaty, demand any kind of NATO or Western military response.

MARTIN: NPR's Rob Schmitz from Berlin. Thanks, Rob. We appreciate this.

SCHMITZ: Thank you.

1 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

2 pipelines   

管道( pipeline的名词复数 )； 输油管道； 在考虑（或规划、准备） 中； 在酿中

参考例句：

• The oil is carried to the oil refinery by pipelines. 石油通过输油管输送到炼油厂。
• The oil carried in pipelines. 石油用管道输送。

3 rupture   

n.破裂；(关系的)决裂；v.(使)破裂

参考例句：

• I can rupture a rule for a friend.我可以为朋友破一次例。
• The rupture of a blood vessel usually cause the mark of a bruise.血管的突然破裂往往会造成外伤的痕迹。

4 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。

5 sabotage   

n.怠工，破坏活动，破坏；v.从事破坏活动，妨害，破坏

参考例句：

• They tried to sabotage my birthday party.他们企图破坏我的生日晚会。
• The fire at the factory was caused by sabotage.那家工厂的火灾是有人蓄意破坏引起的。

6 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。

7 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。

8 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

9 intentionally   

ad.故意地，有意地

参考例句：

• I didn't say it intentionally. 我是无心说的。
• The local authority ruled that he had made himself intentionally homeless and was therefore not entitled to be rehoused. 当地政府裁定他是有意居无定所，因此没有资格再获得提供住房。

10 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

11 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

12 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

14 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

15 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

16 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。