Former US Diplomat Criticizes Japan's Nuclear Response
外交官批评日本核事故后反应
A former high-level U.S. diplomat, who was posted in Japan for many years, is speaking out about Tokyo's initial response to the Fukushima nuclear crisis.
He is also revealing the level of concern that was expressed behind closed doors in Washington at that time.
After a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and historic tsunami battered northeastern Japan on March 11 a veteran U.S. diplomat, who had just been removed from the top post on the island of Okinawa, was among those put in charge of a crisis task force in Washington.
3月11日，9.0级大地震和历史性的海啸袭击日本东北部之后，刚刚退下冲绳岛最高职位的美国退休外交官负责华盛顿的一个危机调查任务小组。
Kevin Maher says American decision-makers quickly realized there was little reliable data coming from their Japanese counterparts about the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant.
Kevin Maher表示，美国政策制定者立即意识到，日本官员公布的关于福岛第一核电站的数据没有任何可信性。
"There was a point where we told the Japanese government, 'Look you guys got to take this seriously. This is a real serious situation. The government needs to respond to this.' And, I think the [Japanese] government eventually came to that conclusion, itself," he said.
“我们曾经告诉日本政府，‘你们必须认真严肃地对待的该事故。现在的形势已经非常危急。政府需要对此作出反应。’我认为，日本政府最终自己也得出了该结论。”
Maher says that was based on flights over the crippled nuclear plant by a U.S. Air Force (RQ-4) Global Hawk remotely piloted plane. The unmanned aircraft took photographs and could roughly gauge temperatures inside the damaged reactor and spent fuel buildings.
Maher说，他们通过美国空军RQ-4 Global Hawk(全球之鷹)远程驾驶飞机在受损的核电站上空了解情况。这架无人驾驶飞机进行拍照，可以粗略测量受损的反应堆和耗尽的燃料建筑内的温度。
"And when you looked at the information we did have, it was very clear to me early on that there had probably been at least one, probably two meltdowns," Maher stated.
“你可以看一下我们得到的信息，很明显，很早的时候就已经有至少一座，可能两座反应堆融化。”
Maher recalls that prompted the U.S. government to explore scenarios for evacuations, including transporting 100,000 American citizens from the Tokyo metropolitan area.
Maher回忆说，这些数据促使美国政府开始策划疏散方案，包括从东京市区撤出100,000名美国公民。
That did not happen. Instead the State Department advised U.S. citizens to keep 80 kilometers away from the Fukushima plant. Plume projections modeled by U.S. agencies did not show significant levels of radiation would envelope the capital. But a voluntary departure plan for U.S. government employee families in Japan was also implemented.
这种情况确实发生了。国务院建议美国公民与福岛核电站保持至少80千米的距离。美国机构制定的模型显示，不会有高水平的辐射笼罩整个首都。但是美国政府驻日本雇员家属已经开始自愿离开。
Maher blamed Japan's confusing and belated response to the crisis on the government’s traditional consensus decision-making process. He says crucial information was not being shared among relevant Japanese government ministries and agencies.
Maher谴责日本坚持传统的决策制定程序，对危机作出的反应非常混乱，而且延迟了很久。他说，直到现在，日本相关政府部门和机构的信息还没有共享。
Maher, who is fluent in Japanese and has spent 19 years living in Japan, is known for being outspoken, not a typical trait for diplomats.
Maher可以说非常流利的日语，他已经在日本居住了19年的时间。他非常直言不讳，这并不是外交官的典型特征。
Maher had been ousted from his post as Director of the Office of Japan Affairs of March 10, the day before the disaster struck.
3月10日，灾难发生的前一天，Maher被免除日本事务办公室主任一职。
Maher retired from diplomatic service in April after allegations that he made offensive comments about Okinawans during an off-the-record State Department briefing last December for students from American University in Washington.
四月份，有人指控去年12月份，在国务院向美国的大学的学生做简报期间，他发表了对冲绳岛的不敬言论，后来Maher从外交部门辞职。
The comments, based on a student memo composed in mid-February, were first revealed by the Kyodo news agency.
这些评论基于2月份中旬的一份学生备忘录，首先由日本共同新闻社披露。
Maher denied saying Okinawans were "lazy" or "masters of manipulation and extortion." He called the newspaper story fraudulent and says he was misquoted by students who had links to anti-base activists. He says the Kyodo reporter was more interested in pursuing a political agenda than accurately reflecting his comments.
Maher否认自己曾经说过冲绳人很懒惰，擅长操纵和勒索。他说，该报纸的报道是虚假的，他被那些学生断章取义。他说，与准确地反映他的评论相比，共同新闻社对追求政治目的更感兴趣。
The former diplomat says the U.S. ambassador in Japan and State Department officials denied him a chance to rebut the remarks because they did not want the issue to escalate at a time of sensitive discussions about the future of American military bases on Okinawa.
这位前外交官表示，美国驻日本大使馆和国务院官员拒绝给他机会来澄清他的讲话，因为他们不想将问题闹大，当时正在讨论美国驻冲绳岛海军基地的未来，是非常敏感的时期。
A book that Maher, now a consultant, wrote in Japanese, "The Japan That Can't Decide" was released here Thursday.
Maher现在担任顾问。他在日本的时候写的一本书《日本不能果断决定》在周四出版。 |