2007年VOA标准英语-Siberian Town In Mourning Following Coal Mine D

By Anya Ardayeva
Moscow
23 March 2007
 
watch Mining Disaster report 

Many people in the Russian region of Kemerovo are in mourning. On Monday (March 19th), a massive methane¹ explosion tore apart the Ulyanovskaya mine in Siberia, killing² at least 108 people.  Anya Ardayeva reports from Moscow.

Residents in the Russian town of Novokuznetsk mourning the loss of friends and family

The first funerals started to take place in the town of Novokuznetsk, some 3,000 kilometers from Moscow, for over a hundred miners who died in the mine on Monday morning. One British engineer also died.

On the day of the tragedy, the governor of Kemerovo region, Aman Tuleev, said the management went down to the mine to examine its safety systems. "Today, we were supposed to launch a British system on providing safety for mining works underground. And unfortunately, the entire management as well as representatives of the company went down to the mine to check its work."

It is still not clear what caused the massive methane gas explosion in the pit. According to the local officials, the causes for the accident will not be known for another two weeks. Ulyanovskaya, built four and a half years ago, was one of the most modern mines in Russia, updated with the newest equipment. Russian media reported that the federal industrial regulator Rostekhnadzor completed the last safety check at the mine just over a week ago and did not report any violations³.

The head of Russia's Independent Working Union of Miners in Moscow, Alexander Sergeyev, says human error could be one of the reasons for the catastrophe⁴.

 According to Sergeyev, Russia urgently needs to change the payment system for miners, under which more than two-thirds of their monthly income depends on the amount of coal they produce.  "When the miner is at his working place, he needs to know what he's doing. He needs to know what violations he needs to fix. If there's a lot of methane gas, he needs to wait until it goes away and should not work, and if he waits, he loses money. So there's always a dilemma⁵ on whether to risk to make money or not. We should stop mining this coal at any price. We need to change the system of payment for miners, the structure of it. I am sure we will get to it one day; I'd just wish we came to it with fewer human losses."

Some experts say the 93 survivors⁶ of the blast did not die largely because of new systems designed to minimize explosive force. Many of the Russian mines do not have that equipment, and many have not had any updates since they have gone into private hands after the collapse⁷ of the Soviet⁸ Union as their owners are trying to save money.

According to Russian media estimates, the damage to the mine will cost its owners some $200 million -- and they will lose $1 million a month while the pit is not functioning. The governor of the region already ordered the Ulyanovskaya mine to return to service by July this year.

1 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

4 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。

5 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

6 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

7 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。

8 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。