VOA慢速英语:TEPCO Prepares for Critical Periods of Fukushima Clean-up

Workers at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan will soon begin one of the most important periods of the clean-up efforts. They will be removing the fuel rods from one of the worst-hit reactors. More than 1500 fuel rods sit in a damaged storage pool 30 meters above ground inside the reactor 4 building.
受损的日本福岛第一核电站的工人们很快将开始进入清理工作最重要的时期。他们将从受损最严重的反应堆中取出燃料棒。1500多根燃料棒放置在四号反应堆建筑内高出地面30米以上的受损储存池之中。

TEPCO, the Tokyo Electric Power company owns the nuclear power station. Critics say TEPCO should not be trusted to carry out the operation. However, TEPCO General Manager Masayuki Ono says the operation has been carefully planned.
该核电站为东京电力公司所有。批评人士称，东京电力公司不应该被信任进行该操作。但是，东京电力公司总经理Masayuki Ono称，此次操作经过了精心的策划。

He explains that because the reactor 4 building was destroyed by a hydrogen explosion, TEPCO had to rebuild the structure. This happened during the first year, the new building he says is stronger than the old one.
他解释说，因为4号反应堆建筑被氢气爆炸摧毁了，东京电力公司不得不重建该结构。这件事发生在第一年。他说新建筑比旧的更强。

The hydrogen explosion left pieces of wreckage all over the inside of the pool. TEPCO's first job is to remove this debris. Then, workers will remove the fuel rods one by one, they will use a crane suspended above the building.
氢气爆炸使得储存槽内部到处是残骸碎片。东京电力公司的第一项工作就是移除这些碎片。然后，工人们将使用建筑上方悬挂的一台起重机一个接一个的取出燃料棒。

The fuel rods must not touch each other or break. Nuclear experts warn that any accidents could cause an explosion many times worse than the one in March 2011.
燃料棒不能互相接触或折断。核专家警告称，任何意外都可能造成比2011年3月严重很多倍的爆炸。

Mitsuhei Murata is Japan's former ambassador to Switzerland and an anti-nuclear activist. He notes the problems over the past 30 months - including radioactive water leaks - have raised questions about TEPCO' s ability to carry out this operation.
Mitsuhei Murata是日本驻瑞士前大使，也是一名反核活动家。他指出，过去30个月包括放射性水泄漏在内的一些问题使得人们对东京电力公司开展这项操作的能力提出了质疑。

"The Unit 4 contains 10 times more Cesium-137 than Chernobyl. So in case the worst occurs, a total withdrawal [from the site] will be imposed, which means this can be considered as the beginning of the ultimate catastrophe of the world and the planet."
“4号机组里含有的铯-137比切诺贝利核电站多十倍以上。所以在最坏的情况下，该电站将全部撤离，这意味着，它可能是这个星球上最严重灾难的开始。”

Japan has called on foreign expert to assist in the operation. Hironori Nakanishi is the Director-General for Energy Policy at the government's Agency for Natural Resources and Energy.
日本已经呼吁外国专家协助操作。Hironori Nakanishi是日本政府下属的日本自然资源和能源署的能源政策总干事。

"The sole responsibility in managing the situation safely is still on TEPCO corporation. But still we are in the same boat and we have to support their activity. So in order to achieve that goal we asked the specialists all over the world, from United States, the UK, France, Russia and Ukraine."
“确保安全的唯一责任压在是东京电力公司身上。但我们仍然同坐一条船，我们必须支持他们的行动。因此，为了实现这一目标，我们邀请了来自美国、英国、法国、俄罗斯和乌克兰的专家。”

Inspectors from Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority have approved TEPCO's planned operation to remove the fuel from Reactor 4. The process is expected to begin in November and to take up to 18 months to complete.
来自日本核监管局的监察员已经批准了东京电力公司从4号反应堆取出燃料棒的操作计划。这一过程预计从11月开始，历时18个月完成。