2006年VOA标准英语-A Look Back at the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant

By Anya Ardayeva
Moscow
25 April 2006
 
watch Chernobyl Site report

Twenty years ago on April 26, 1986, a massive blast at the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant sent a cloud of radioactivity across Europe, affecting millions of people. The Soviet¹ government waited for nearly three days before admitting that the catastrophe² took place and only after radiation alarms went off at a nuclear plant in Sweden.

The destroyed reactor³ is still extremely radioactive, covered by the so-called sarcophagus, built to protect the environment from radiation, but it was only designed to last 15 years and now scientists and environmentalist say it is falling apart. Anya Ardayeva produced this report in Chernobyl. It is narrated⁴ by Ernest Leong.

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This was the worst nuclear accident the world has ever seen.

A glimpse into Reactor Number Four  
  
A massive explosion blew off the lid of the Reactor Number Four at the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant.  One hundred and ten tons of uranium and nine hundred tons of radioactive graphite blasted into the atmosphere. For about ten days, the reactor kept releasing radioactive materials into the air , as the Soviets⁵ did not know how to put out the deadly fire.

The cleanup operation involved some 350,000 people, many of whom received extremely high doses of radiation: The Soviet Union's one proven resource for that kind of job was human labor⁶.

Five months later, a 150-meter steel-and-concrete sarcophagus was built to contain the ruins of the Reactor Number Four. 

 
Yulia Marusich
  
Twenty years on, radiation levels are still extreme, says Yulia Marusich, Chernobyl's information officer. She says the sarcophagus does not completely seal off the radiation and it is not structurally⁷ sound. "The existing shelter is not stable, it is not reliable. It [sarcophagus] was constructed remotely.  On one hand, it reduced the personnel exposure. On the other hand, it didn't provide the accuracy of a shelter structures installation.”   

Outside experts confirm the sarcophagus is falling apart and could collapse⁸. 

Francis O'Donnell   
  
Francis O'Donnell, head of the United Nations Development Program in Ukraine, says there is also a problem with what's inside. “They still haven't figured the way to deal with 180 tons of nuclear fuel-containing mass which is at the core of the reactor, there's no nuclear waste disposal strategy, and 20 years on we can do better than this.”

The sarcophagus -- and the tons of nuclear fuel inside of it -- are not the only problem.

There are three other reactors⁹, which were put back on line shortly after the sarcophagus was built. The reactor was not turned off until 2000 and only following international pressure.

And Chernobyl has not been decommissioned completely: Ukraine does not have the facilities for the long-term storage of the plants' nuclear fuel.

Oleg Ryazanov is an engineer at the Chernobyl Plants reactor Number One, who monitors the condition of the disabled reactor. He says money is the real issue. 

Oleg Ryazanov  
  
"We have the technology, the people, the knowledge, the desire but we don't have the money.

If the sarcophagus covering the Fourth Reactor collapses¹⁰, another explosion, though less powerful, is likely to occur. To prevent that, some 28 countries pledged to chip in more than $800 million for the construction of a new steel coffin¹¹.

The project is scheduled to be finished by the year 2010. 

But even with the new shelter in place, it is estimated it will take from 30 to 100 years to safely get rid of the fuel and debris¹² inside the plant.

1 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。

2 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

3 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。

4 narrated   

v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Some of the story was narrated in the film. 该电影叙述了这个故事的部分情节。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Defoe skilfully narrated the adventures of Robinson Crusoe on his desert island. 笛福生动地叙述了鲁滨逊·克鲁索在荒岛上的冒险故事。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。

6 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

7 structurally   

在结构上

参考例句：

• The house roof was (structurally) unsound. 这屋顶（结构）不牢固。
• Pinhole on shot-hole damage is never structurally significant. 针孔和蛀洞所造成的危害对结构的影响不大。

8 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。

9 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。

10 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。

11 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

12 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。