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　　The economic cost of the worst natural disaster in Japan's history continues to rise. Experts are saying the devastating¹ combination of earthquake, tsunami² and now - the deepening nuclear crisis, is likely to result in bigger-than-expected financial losses for the world's third largest economy. A week after the nation's worst natural disaster, the threat of a nuclear meltdown is emerging as the biggest threat to the country's economic recovery.
日本历史上最严重的自然灾害的经济成本在持续攀升。专家们说，地震、海啸，以及目前不断加深的核危机形成了毁灭性的灾难组合。这有可能导致这个世界第三大经济体蒙受比预期更大的金融损失。在地震发生一个星期后，核危机正在成为日本经济复苏所面临的最大威胁。
At the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, water cannons³ spray jets of water to cool overheating nuclear reactors⁴. But scientists say that's like using a squirt gun to put out a forest fire.
在福岛核电站，高压水炮喷洒着水柱，给过热的核反应堆降温。
Market analyst⁵ Will Hedden says uncertainty⁶ over the outcome is driving volatility⁷ in financial markets. "We are still in a state of panic. And we are still not seeing any end in sight to that volatility and a lot of worries persisting over the ongoing⁸ problems in Japan," he said.
市场分析师威尔·海登(Will Hedden)说，不明朗的后果在金融市场掀起波动。他说：“我们仍然处在恐慌状态。我们仍然没有看到波动有任何结束的迹象，而且对日本正面临的问题存在大量忧虑。”
Japanese officials say damage is now likely to cost more than the 1995 earthquake in Kobe that resulted in losses of more than $100 billion.
日本官员说，这次灾难造成的损失可能超过1995年神户地震造成的损失。那次地震造成的损失超过1千亿美元。
"The early estimates from analysts⁹ and economists¹⁰ is $180 billion in damages. Of course the crisis is escalating¹¹. If you throw in the radiation scare and people from overseas are going to stop coming to Japan, the hit on tourism - obviously the number could go up from there," said Nathan Layne, Reuters Tokyo Bureau Chief.
路透社东京办公室总编辑内森·莱恩(Nathan Layne)说：“分析人士和经济学家的初期预测为损失1800亿美元。当然，危机仍在加剧。如果这当中再出现辐射恐慌，外国人就不会到日本来。这会对旅游业造成打击 - 显然，这个数字可能会更高。”
Adding to worries is damage to the country's power grid¹². Auto¹³ analyst Paul Newton says rolling power outages have severely¹⁴ crimped factory production, especially in auto plants across the country. "Companies are not producing vehicles simply because of the power outages, not because they're short of components¹⁵ or had their plants devastated¹⁶. It's really a question, they can't make them, there's no electricity," Newton said.
日本电网遭受的损坏也引发了新的担忧。汽车分析师保罗·牛顿(Paul Newton)说，周期性停电已经严重影响到工厂生产，尤其是遍布日本的汽车工厂。他说：“公司停止生产汽车的原因仅仅是停电，而不是因为它们缺少配件或者因为工厂被毁。这的确是个问题。他们无法制造汽车，因为没有电。”
But some see light at the end of the tunnel.
但是一些人还是看到了一丝希望。
"The difference again between this event and the one in 1995 is that northeastern Japan is not a manufacturing hub of the Japanese economy. We've seen several factories shut down most notably¹⁷ in the auto industry, rolling power outages to conserve¹⁸ energy - that could also impact exports in the short run but once the reconstruction¹⁹ effort is under way, that could eventually boost the economy," said Nicolas Szechenyi, who heads Japanese studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
华盛顿智囊机构战略与经济研究中心日本研究主任尼古拉斯·塞切尼(Nicolas Szechenyi)说：“这次灾难和1995年地震的区别在于，东北部地区不是日本的制造业中心。我们已经看到一些工厂关闭，尤其是汽车业，周期性停电是为了节约能源 - 这也对出口造成短期影响。但是一旦重建工作启动，那将最终会刺激经济。”
Japan is expected to finance reconstruction by selling government bonds.
日本可能会通过出售政府债券为重建融资。
But experts say that will have long term implications for the future of the world's third largest economy -- increasing the price of Japanese goods and adding to the nation's already high debt load, now roughly double its gross domestic output.
但是专家们表示，那样将会对这个世界第三大经济体的未来造成长期性的影响，也就是将推高日本商品价格，并且为国家已经背负的巨额债务增加新的负担。目前日本负债大约是其国内生产总值的两倍。