环球英语 — 47：The Chernobyl Accident

　　Voice 1
Thank you for joining us for today’s Spotlight¹ program. I’m Joshua Leo.
Voice 2
And I’m Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
On April 26, 1986 the world changed forever. A part of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded. The explosion² released³ harmful chemicals into the air. Many people died. Even more people became sick. Today, over twenty years later, people still feel the effects of this explosion
Today’s program is on the Chernobyl accident.
Voice 2
The Chernobyl power plant was a kind of factory. It was in Pripyat, a village in the former Soviet⁴ Union. Today, it is in the country of Ukraine. Nuclear power plants make electricity. They use uranium dioxide⁵, a chemical that can be very dangerous. If the machines in a power plant do not work correctly, the chemicals can harm people. This is what happened at the Chernobyl Power Plant.
Voice 1
There were four nuclear reactors⁷ at the Chernobyl power plant. These reactors contained machines and chemicals to create heat. then machines changed heat into electricity.
Voice 2
On April 25, 1986, workers performed a test on reactor⁶ number four [4]. They shut off many of the safety controls. The men started to cool the reactor. They used cooling rods⁸. Cooling rods are long thin pieces of the chemical boron. But the reactor cooled too quickly. So, the workers pulled the cooling rods out of the reactor.
Voice 1
Then the reactor began to heat up again. It became too hot too quickly. The tubes⁹ for the cooling rods started to melt¹⁰. Workers could not put the cooling rods back into the reactor. The reactor continued getting hotter. It produced much more energy than normal. The fuel in the reactor started to explode. The water in the cooling system turned into steam. This steam blew the top of the reactor building off. Air from outside entered the reactor. It caused another explosion. Each explosion released harmful chemicals into the air and onto the land.
Voice 2
Fire fighters and the military¹¹ hurried to the power plant. They tried to stop the growing fires. But they did not know about the dangerous chemicals. The chemicals were radioactive¹². Radioactive materials produce dangerous waves of energy. These radioactive waves can damage the cells¹³ inside a person’s body. Many of the people that fought the fires died very soon after the accident. They died from radiation poisoning¹⁴.
Voice 1
The explosion at the Chernobyl power plant was the world’s worst nuclear accident. A radioactive cloud floated over a large area around Chernobyl. The fallout, or radioactive chemicals in the air, spread through Europe. However, most of the fallout affected¹⁵ the villages and cities close to the power plant. The people in these areas did not know about the radiation. The government at that time did not tell the people that they were in danger.
Voice 2
Lena Kostuchenko lived near Chernobyl. She and her husband were visiting her mother on the day of the accident. She was five months pregnant¹⁶. Lena remembers:
Voice 3
“We were waiting for a bus, but no bus came. A policeman came and said that there would be no busses because there had been an accident.”
“On the next Sunday, I had to go to work in Pripyat. Again there were no busses, so we set off on foot. But I began to feel very sick before I had walked half way.”
Voice 1
The Soviet government tried to keep the accident a secret. They did not want the world to know what happened. But they government could not hide the radioactive fallout. The people living around Chernobyl, and across Europe could tell something was wrong.
Voice 2
The police and military told people in the nearby villages to leave their homes. The police told the people they would only be gone for a few days. But the people from these villages would never return to their homes. The people’s clothes, and all their possessions¹⁷ had become radioactive. After the accident, over three hundred fifty thousand [350,000] people had to move away from the affected area.
Voice 3
“A policeman finally told me the truth. He said there was high radiation and pregnant women should get out at all costs. At that time, I did not know what radiation was.”
Voice 1
Lena went to a hospital after the accident at Chernobyl. The doctors took her clothes. They said that all pregnant women would be forced to either kill their unborn babies or give birth early. This was to prevent the babies from getting health problems.
Voice 3
“I gave birth to my daughter Anya two months early.”
Voice 2
Lena’s daughter Anya was sick even when she was born. Doctors put her in a special room to improve. Lena was not allowed to see her new baby for eight days.
Voice 1
Soon after the accident, over two hundred [200] people went to the hospital. Thirty-one [31] of those people died there. But the people who died then were not the only people affected by the Chernobyl nuclear accident. People still felt the effects of the radiation many years after the accident. Many groups do not agree about how many people died because of the radiation. the World Health Organization estimates¹⁸ that nine thousand [9,000] people died. Greenpeace esitmates that it was as high as two hundred thousand [200,000].
Voice 2
As Anya became older. Lena noticed that her daughter was often sick. She believed it was because of the radiation.
Voice 3
“At that time you were not allowed to say it was because of Chernobyl. Later a doctor told me I had been very unlucky. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time of my pregnancy¹⁹.”
Voice 1
Today, Lena’s daughter has a rare²⁰ blood disease²¹. She becomes sick very easily. Lena believes that the radiation from Chernobyl affected Anya before she was born.
Voice 2
The people living in the villages and cities around Chernobyl are not as healthy as they should be. There are higher amounts of thyroid cancer, birth defects²² and other health problems. People have more sickness that comes from stress and worry. The accident also affected the area’s economy²³. Businesses had to close. People lost everything they owned. They had to rebuild their lives.
Voice 1
Lena’s home is still radioactive today. The worst radiation exists in an area thirty [30] kilometres around the power plant. People are not permitted²⁴ to travel into this area.
Voice 2
Military workers built a protective²⁵ cover for the power plant after it exploded. This covering keeps most of the harmful chemicals and radiation contained. However, people built the cover poorly. And it is starting to break. The chemicals inside will be radioactive for hundreds of years. But the cover will last that long. If the cover on the power plant continues to break, another explosion may happen. There may be another dangerous accident.
Voice 1
Ukrainian officials have designed a new cover for the power plant. This stronger cover will last much longer than the old cover. It will protect the area for about one hundred [100] years. The cloud of radioactive smoke is gone today But it will continue to affect the world for many years.
 

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 explosion   

n.爆发，发出，爆炸

参考例句：

• The police arrived right at the moment of the explosion.警察就在爆炸的那个时候赶到了。
• The shock of the explosion was felt far away.爆炸引起的震动很远都可感觉到。

3 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。

4 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

5 dioxide   

n.二氧化物

参考例句：

• The oxygen and the carbon combine to form carbon dioxide.氧和碳化合，形成二氧化碳。
• Carbon dioxide is the largest contributor to the greenhouse effect.二氧化碳太多是道致温室效应的最主要原因。

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 rods   

竿( rod的名词复数 )； 杆； （责打人用的）棍棒； 手枪

参考例句：

• The wheels of the toy car were fixed on metal rods. 玩具车的轮子固定在金属棒上。
• A typewriter in which the characters are situated on type rods. 一种打字机，其字符安装在字模棒上。

9 tubes   

n.管( tube的名词复数 )；地铁；[军事]炮管；管状物

参考例句：

• In semiconductor receivers transistors take the place of vacuum tubes. 在半导体收音机中晶体管代替了真空管。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• These evening damps and chills play Old Harry with one's bronchial tubes. 夜晚的湿气与寒冷对支气管有害。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 melt   

v.（使）融化，（使）熔化，使软化，使感动

参考例句：

• If you warm ice,it will melt into water.如果你给冰加热它会融化成水。
• It is easy to melt ice.融化冰很容易。

11 military   

n.军队；adj.军事的，军人的，好战的

参考例句：

• The area has been declared a closed military zone.这个地区已宣布为军事禁区。
• The king was just the tool of the military government.国王只是军政府的一个傀儡。

12 radioactive   

adj.放射性的

参考例句：

• People should keep away from the radioactive waste.人们应远离放射性废物。
• The radioactive material is stored in a special radiation-proof container.放射性材料储存在防辐射的特殊容器里。

13 cells   

n.细胞( cell的名词复数 )；小牢房；（修道士或修女住的）小房间；电池

参考例句：

• Once in the bloodstream, the bacteria adhere to the surface of the red cells. 细菌一进入血液里，就附着在红细胞表面上。
• an amorphous mass of cells with no identity at all 不知何物的杂乱一团的细胞

14 poisoning   

n.中毒，毒害，投毒v.毒死( poison的现在分词 )；污染；放毒于；对…有不良影响

参考例句：

• a series of deaths caused by carbon monoxide poisoning 一氧化碳中毒引起的一连串死亡
• cases of salmonella poisoning 沙门菌中毒病例

15 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

16 pregnant   

adj.怀孕的，怀胎的

参考例句：

• She is a pregnant woman.她是一名孕妇。
• She is pregnant with her first child.她怀了第一胎。

17 possessions   

n.[法]财产；占有( possession的名词复数 )；领地；个人财产；持有违禁物

参考例句：

• The group forswears all worldly possessions. 这个团体放弃一切尘世财物。
• I lost some of my most prized possessions in the fire. 大火吞噬了我的一些最珍贵的物品。

18 estimates   

估计

参考例句：

• Unofficial estimates put the figure at over two million. 非官方的估计数字为200万以上。
• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

20 rare   

adj.稀罕的，罕有的，珍贵的，稀薄的，半熟的，非常的；adv.非常

参考例句：

• It is rare to see a man over 160 years old.很少见到一个人能活到160岁。
• The zoo has a lot of rare animals in it.这个动物园有许多珍奇的动物。

21 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

22 defects   

n.缺点( defect的名词复数 )；（尤指对完善或完备所必需的）欠缺；弱点；污点

参考例句：

• They were not blinded to the defects of Western society. 他们并非不了解西方社会的缺陷。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We must correct our defects as soon as possible. 我们必须尽快纠正我们的缺点。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 economy   

n.经济；节俭；秩序；机体

参考例句：

• We must do our best to develop the national economy.我们必须努力发展国民经济。
• The country's economy is not very healthy.国家的经济不很景气。

24 permitted   

允许( permit的过去式和过去分词 )； 许可； 许用

参考例句：

• Radios are not permitted in the library. 图书馆内不许使用收音机。
• Entrance is permitted only on production of a ticket. 出示门票才可进入。

25 protective   

adj.防护的，保护的

参考例句：

• A mother naturally feels protective towards her children.做母亲的天生要保护自己的孩子。
• We feel safe with a protective device in the house.我们因为家里有了防护装置而感到安全。