我们从福岛核事故学到什么?

describe as描述为
例句：I should describe the attempt as a failure.
我认为这次尝试失败了。

2. What they really mean by that is that radiation emitted from the plant has been brought down to near acceptable levels.

bring down (使)减少，降低(温度、物价等)；使(某人)降低价格
例句：The dealers finally brought the price down to a reasonable figure.
商人们终于把物价压低到合理的程度。

3. And the operators were working under appalling conditions and proper plans for responding to an accident of this scale hadn't been developed.

respond to对…有某种反应〔感觉, 表现〕
例句：She responded to the news by bursting into tears.
她听到那个消息后眼泪夺眶而出。

4. "What needs to be learnt from this accident?"

learn from从...中吸取教训
例句：We should learn from his mistakes.
我们应该从他的错误中接受教训。

5. Those plans have to be developed well in advance and managed and practiced.

in advance预先, 事先
例句：Everything was fixed in advance.
一切都是预先安排好的。

6. "What does clean up mean?"

clean up整顿; 实行改革
例句：The new mayor said he would clean the city up.
新市长说, 他要整顿本市。

7. The cost is unknown but I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was significantly in excess of, say, 100 billion dollars.

in excess of多于, 超出
例句：He advised his son never to spend in excess of his income.
他劝儿子开支不可超过收入。