VOA标准英语2011--Three Mile Island, 32 Years Later

March 28 marks the 30th anniversary of the United States' worst nuclear accident. The reactor¹ at Three Mile Island in central Pennsylvania experienced a near meltdown. Although not nearly the tragedy of Chernobyl in Ukraine, or Fukushima in Japan, Three Mile Island caused a three decade pause in nuclear energy advancement² in the U.S. and a review of nuclear plant policies nationwide.
Beyond the hills of Middletown, Pennsylvania, an eerie³ sight rises through the haze⁴. Four nuclear cooling towers. And a reactor that caused the worst nuclear accident in the United States. Reactor Number 2 at Three Mile Island.
Rosalie Taylor was raising two boys in Middletown when she learned radiation may have leaked out of the plant. Safety officials told residents to stay inside.
"You just sat in your house with everything closed and wondering if there was going to be a meltdown or not," recalled Taylor.
At first, then-Governor Dick Thornburgh said no. But the next day, he recommended the evacuation of pregnant women and small children. Now 32 years later, he said "We didn't want to undertake an evacuation unnecessarily and we were constantly assessing the info [information] we had to see if it was necessary."
More than 120,000 people evacuated⁵.
"It's a funny sensation to not know if you are going to come back to your home," noted⁶ Taylor. "I had to take a few things that were important to me. And those few things are the two albums you saw of my sons. And, birth certificates."
Dentist Sam Selcher still works out of the same office as he did in 1979. Rather than evacuating⁷, he stayed to handle emergencies.
"All of my employees live within a 5-mile radius⁸ of Three Mile Island," said Selcher. "I told them to wear their film badges 24 hours a day and keep it with them wherever they were."
The devices showed no radiation exposure. Four days after the incident, President Jimmy Carter arrived.
"I think people really and simply said, 'If it's safe enough for the president and the governor to walk around in that plant it must be pretty safe," added Thornburgh.
Two days later, the incident was over. The containment⁹ structure worked. Most of the radiation did not escape. Years later, scientists determined¹⁰ that a jammed valve had caused cooling water to drain from the reactor core.
Ralph DeSantis is with the power company that runs Three Mile Island. "With that water coming out, about half the fuel core became uncovered and that's where the partial meltdown occurred," DeSantis explained.
Investigators¹¹ blamed the accident on equipment malfunction¹², human error and lack of training. Because of Three Mile Island, every U.S. nuclear power plant must now have a control room simulator, designed to be an exact replica¹³ of the nerve center in the plant.
The simulators feature alarm panels that are prioritized by color and sound - so operators know which alarms to respond to first. Unlike 1979, when 400 different alarms blared, overwhelming operators.
"As a result of Three Mile Island, both our regulator [the NRC] and the industry looked in the mirror and said, 'We need to improve our operator training. We need to improve our emergency response capability,'" said Tony Pietrangelo with the Nuclear Energy Institute.
Three MiIe Island temporarily stalled the growth of nuclear energy in the United States. It would be 30 years before the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission would even review an application for a new power plant. Reactor 2 at Three Mile Island was permanently¹⁴ shut down, but Reactor 1 and its cooling towers continue to operate.

1 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。

2 advancement   

n.前进，促进，提升

参考例句：

• His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
• The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。

3 eerie   

adj.怪诞的；奇异的；可怕的；胆怯的

参考例句：

• It's eerie to walk through a dark wood at night.夜晚在漆黑的森林中行走很是恐怖。
• I walked down the eerie dark path.我走在那条漆黑恐怖的小路上。

4 haze   

n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊

参考例句：

• I couldn't see her through the haze of smoke.在烟雾弥漫中，我看不见她。
• He often lives in a haze of whisky.他常常是在威士忌的懵懂醉意中度过的。

5 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。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 evacuating   

撤离，疏散( evacuate的现在分词 )； 排空（胃肠），排泄（粪便）； （从危险的地方）撤出，搬出，撤空

参考例句：

• The solution is degassed by alternately freezing, evacuating and thawing. 通过交替的冻结、抽空和溶化来使溶液除气。
• Are we evacuating these potential targets? 能够在这些目标地域内进行疏散吗？

8 radius   

n.半径，半径范围；有效航程，范围，界限

参考例句：

• He has visited every shop within a radius of two miles.周围两英里以内的店铺他都去过。
• We are measuring the radius of the circle.我们正在测量圆的半径。

9 containment   

n.阻止，遏制；容量

参考例句：

• Your list might include such things as cost containment,quality,or customer satisfaction.你的清单上应列有诸如成本控制、产品质量、客户满意程度等内容。
• Insularity and self-containment,it is argued,go hand in hand.他们争论说，心胸狭窄和自我封闭是并存的。

10 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

11 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 malfunction   

vi.发生功能故障，发生故障，显示机能失常

参考例句：

• There must have been a computer malfunction.一定是出了电脑故障。
• Results have been delayed owing to a malfunction in the computer.由于电脑发生故障，计算结果推迟了。

13 replica   

n.复制品

参考例句：

• The original conservatory has been rebuilt in replica.温室已按原样重建。
• The young artist made a replica of the famous painting.这位年轻的画家临摹了这幅著名的作品。

14 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。