美国国家公共电台 NPR--EU officials and others are concerned about explosions at Nord Stream pipelines

EU officials and others are concerned about explosions at Nord Stream pipelines²

Transcript³

Some European leaders say the Nord Stream pipeline¹ leaks are deliberate. There's growing concern about what it could mean for security at oil and gas installations around Europe.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

The Swedish Coast Guard now says they've found four leaks in the Nord Stream pipelines set up to deliver gas from Russia to Germany. The seismologists say there were blasts detected nearby before the pipelines were damaged.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

European leaders have said the explosions and the leaks on the Nord Stream pipelines were deliberate acts. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and some other EU officials have gone so far as to call it sabotage⁴. There is growing concern about how vulnerable oil and gas installations around Europe are to some kind of intentional⁵ attack.

FADEL: Sweden, Germany and Denmark have all opened investigations⁶. The Kremlin says they're also looking into what happened and are calling for an objective review. They've called accusations⁷ of sabotage against Russia absurd. NPR's international affairs correspondent Jackie Northam has been following developments and joins us now to talk about this. Hi, Jackie.

JACKIE NORTHAM, BYLINE⁸: Morning, Leila.

FADEL: Good morning. So these two pipelines were supposed to be carrying Russian natural gas to Europe. But neither were operating, right? So does this really have any impact when it comes to European energy supply?

NORTHAM: Well, you're right. Neither pipeline was operating. Germany had halted the Nord Stream 2 project just days before Russia invaded Ukraine. And then Moscow turned off the taps on Nord Stream 1 in August in retaliation⁹ for sanctions on Russia and Europe's support of Ukraine. So there hasn't been any gas moving through those pipelines, right now anyway. And in the short term, it has no impact. In the medium to long term, Europe can forget about getting gas from those pipelines again.

FADEL: So no, really, even promise of future gas from these pipelines now. What are European countries doing to make up for the shortfall in Russian gas overall?

NORTHAM: Well, they've been trying to do everything they can right now, you know, including firing up old coal power plants and rethinking shutting down nuclear power plants. European leaders have also been scouring¹⁰ the world, trying to find new supplies and, you know, from places like the U.S. and Qatar and Algeria. There's a bigger issue here, though. I spoke¹¹ with Robert McNally, who's the president of Rapidan Energy Group. And he said what we're looking at now is a world energy war. He says it started when Russia cut the flow of gas in Nord Stream 1, which Europe depended on. And he said it's created shifting alliances and more competition. You know, Europe's going to have to bid against countries like Japan and China even more now. Let's have a listen.

ROBERT MCNALLY: Everybody is slowly and surely getting drawn¹² into this energy war. It's not just going to be a European energy war. It's just the integrated nature of global energy markets. And countries make decisions on what to buy, where to buy from based on policy and political and geopolitical considerations.

NORTHAM: And, Leila, McNally says, what we're looking at now is really the biggest geopolitical disruptions in global energy markets since the late 1970s, you know, when you had the oil embargo¹³.

FADEL: OK. Given that Europe is in such a precarious¹⁴ energy situation, as you've described, has this incident on the Nord Stream pipelines, especially if it's proven to be deliberate, raised security concerns about energy infrastructure¹⁵ more broadly?

NORTHAM: Oh, this has definitely been a wake-up call for Europe and most likely the U.S. about the vulnerability of critical infrastructure. You know, there are a lot of gas pipelines and power and telecommunication¹⁶ cables crisscrossing Europe. And any of them could be a target. And we saw Norway and Denmark come out yesterday saying they've increased their security around oil and gas installations. And Norway has this new pipeline that sends gas to Poland. It's about to go online. And it could be open to attack. And today, a Swedish news agency said there's been a fourth leak found on one of the Nord Stream pipelines.

FADEL: NPR's international affairs correspondent Jackie Northam. Jackie, thanks.

NORTHAM: 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 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。

4 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。

5 intentional   

adj.故意的，有意（识）的

参考例句：

• Let me assure you that it was not intentional.我向你保证那不是故意的。
• His insult was intentional.他的侮辱是有意的。

6 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

7 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

8 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。

9 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》

10 scouring   

擦[洗]净，冲刷，洗涤

参考例句：

• The police are scouring the countryside for the escaped prisoners. 警察正在搜索整个乡村以捉拿逃犯。
• This is called the scouring train in wool processing. 这被称为羊毛加工中的洗涤系列。

11 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。

12 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

13 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

14 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

15 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

16 telecommunication   

n.电信，远距离通信

参考例句：

• Telecommunication is an industry of service.电信业是一个服务型的行业。
• I only care about the telecommunication quality and the charge.我只关心通信质量和资费两个方面。