万花筒 2012-02-01&02-03 日本通过联合国核压力测试

 It's the endorsement¹ Japan's government has been waiting for. The United Nations' nuclear experts backing for stress tests designed to show the country's nuclear plants could withstand another disaster like last year's quake and tsunami². The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency team in Japan is James Lyons. "We were able to give them some additional areas where they could improve their process, including using newer internationally accepted safety standards. They have, in their discussions with us, have indicated to us that they want to use those new standards so we were confident that they would do a good job in their secondary assessment³."The 9 magnitude quake and subsequent, massive, tsunami in March 2011 wrecked⁴ the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. It's the worst nuclear crisis the world has seen in 25 years since the Chernobyl disaster. The tests are computer simulations which evaluate a reactor's resilience to such events. The IAEA's endorsement of the tests could help bolster⁵ government moves to restart other reactors⁶. Critics are questioning the validity of the tests. They say they only simulate one natural disaster at a time. They also suggest the tests don't reflect the risk of equipment failure and human error seen at Fukushima.

1 endorsement   

n.背书；赞成，认可，担保；签(注)，批注

参考例句：

• We are happy to give the product our full endorsement.我们很高兴给予该产品完全的认可。
• His presidential campaign won endorsement from several celebrities.他参加总统竞选得到一些社会名流的支持。

2 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

3 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

4 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

5 bolster   

n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

6 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。