美国国家公共电台 NPR--Major dam near a nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine suddenly collapses

Major dam near a nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine suddenly collapses²

Transcript³

A major dam near a nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine has suddenly collapsed⁴. The risk of flooding would pose a threat to the nuclear plant which is occupied by Russian troops.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Ukraine has faced a brutal⁵ invasion, missile strikes on hospitals and apartment buildings, power outages and now a dam break.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The dam collapsed in southern Ukraine in a region controlled by Russia. It's on the Dnipro River, the great waterway that winds through the middle of the country. People downstream now face a risk of floods. Just upstream is a nuclear power plant that depends on the river for cooling water.

MARTIN: For the latest, we're joined now by NPR's Greg Myre, who is in Ukraine's capital, Kyiv. Good morning, Greg.

GREG MYRE, BYLINE⁶: Hi, Michel.

MARTIN: Could you just start by telling us what we know about the situation at this dam?

MYRE: Right. We're talking about the Kakhovka dam. It's on the big, broad Dnipro River in southern Ukraine. A video on social media shows a big chunk⁷ of the dam collapsed overnight. And early Tuesday, you just see water rushing through the breach⁸. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is blaming Russia and called an emergency meeting of his security advisers⁹. Russia, in turn, is blaming Ukraine. Now, neither side is providing proof. And the dam, we should note, was damaged last year in some shelling. It's been under stress from record high waters. And we even saw photos in recent days where the water was so high it was flowing over the top of the dam.

MARTIN: So whatever caused this, what are the potential consequences?

MYRE: Well, the most immediate¹⁰ is major flooding in southern Ukraine further to the south of the dam along the river. Ukrainian officials say there's about 80 cities, towns and villages in this area, as well, we should note, some Russian troops. Now, we're already getting reports that water levels are rising rapidly, and low-lying areas are being evacuated¹¹. And the land on the eastern side of the river is actually a little bit lower than the land on the western side of the river. So it's the eastern side, where some of these Russian troops are, that faces the greater potential danger.

MARTIN: And we've already mentioned that there could be serious consequences upriver, too, where there's a nuclear power plant. Can you talk more about that?

MYRE: Sure. We're talking about this already troubled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest nuclear plant in Europe. Russian troops seized the plant in the early days of the war. There's been periodic shelling around the plant. The U.N. nuclear agency has warned repeatedly about the threat of an accident. It now says it's closely monitoring these latest developments.

MARTIN: Could you tell us more about how the dam collapse¹ could endanger the nuclear plant?

MYRE: So the dam is about a hundred miles south or downriver from the nuclear plant. And the dam creates a reservoir to its north. And so this large pool of water cools the nuclear power plant. So the risk is, now that the dam has collapsed, the reservoir is going to drain very quickly. And the nuclear plant may not get enough water for cooling. However, we should stress it's still too early to tell what the actual risk might be.

MARTIN: Greg, before we let you go, is it possible one way or another that this collapse, this dam collapse, is related to this long-awaited Ukrainian offensive?

MYRE: It's certainly possible, Michel. We just don't know. Russia claimed Monday that it had rebuffed a Ukrainian push in the eastern Donbas region. And it said that marked the start of the offensive. But Ukraine said that was delusional¹², and it's not saying when the offensive starts. However, Ukraine has stepped up attacks in the east. President Zelenskyy praised Ukrainian soldiers who were fighting around the town of Bakhmut. But he didn't say whether this was a larger offensive that was underway.

MARTIN: That was NPR's Greg Myre in Kyiv. Greg, thank you.

MYRE: Sure thing, Michel.

1 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

2 collapses   

折叠( collapse的第三人称单数 )； 倒塌； 崩溃； （尤指工作劳累后）坐下

参考例句：

• This bridge table collapses. 这张桥牌桌子能折叠。
• Once Russia collapses, the last chance to stop Hitler will be gone. 一旦俄国垮台，抑止希特勒的最后机会就没有了。

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 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

5 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

6 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。

7 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

8 breach   

n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破

参考例句：

• We won't have any breach of discipline.我们不允许任何破坏纪律的现象。
• He was sued for breach of contract.他因不履行合同而被起诉。

9 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

10 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

11 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

12 delusional   

妄想的

参考例句：

• You became delusional and attacked several people trying to escape. 你产生了错觉并攻击了许多人还试图逃走。 来自电影对白
• He is incoherent, delusional, suffering auditory hallucinations. 他出现无逻辑的，妄想的，幻听的症状。 来自电影对白