专家：核幅射或蔓延至日本以外的地区

An American nuclear expert says radiation from Japan could spread across the Pacific and reach the United States if a complete meltdown occurs at a Japanese nuclear facility damaged as a result of last week’s earthquake and subsequent tsunami.

美国一位核能专家说，如果在上星期地震以及事后的海啸中遭到破坏的一个日本核设施彻底销毁，来自日本的核辐射可能在跨越太平洋波及美国。

Nuclear expert Joseph Cirincione of the Ploughshares Fund says Japan’s nuclear crisis is in a critical phase.

犁头基金会的核能专家奇林乔内说，日本的核危机正处于紧急阶段。

"One of the [Japanese] reactors has had half the core exposed already. This is the one they are now flooding with seawater in a desperate effort to prevent a complete meltdown."

奇林乔内说：“日本的一个反应堆的炉芯已经有一半暴露在外。他们正在不顾一切地用海水冲淹这个反应堆，以阻止它彻底熔毁。”

Cirincione spoke on the Fox News Sunday television program. He said the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant on Japan’s northeast coast is one of at least three nuclear facilities at risk.

奇林乔内在福克斯电视节目的“星期天新闻”上发表了讲话。他说福岛第一核电站设在日本的东北海岸线上，是至少三个处于险境的核设施之一。

Japan has evacuated civilians from areas surrounding the troubled plant, but Cirincione says radiation could spread far beyond Japan if efforts to contain the crisis fail.

日本已经疏散了处于险境的核电站周边的平民百姓，但是奇林乔内说，如果局限这次危机的努力失败，核辐射可能蔓延到远离日本的地区。

"The worst-case scenario is that the fuel rods fuse together - temperatures get so hot that [they] melt together into a radioactive molten mass that busts through the containment mechanisms. So they spew radioactivity into the ground, into the air, into the water. Some of that radioactivity could carry in the atmosphere to the west coast of the United States."

奇林乔内说：“最坏的可能性是燃料棒熔合在一起，极其高热的温度使得它们熔合成具放射性的熔块，冲破拦截机制。于是它们向海陆空辐射放射物质。某些核辐射可能通过空气传播到美国西海岸。”

Japan’s ambassador in Washington, Ichiro Fujisaki, acknowledged potential dangers, but said no complete nuclear meltdown appears imminent.

日本驻华盛顿大使藤崎一郎承认有潜在危险，但是他说，目前看来核反应炉还不至于完全熔毁。

"It is true that part of [the] fuel rod may have been deformed or melting. But it is not a situation where [the] core reactor, the substantial part of [the] reactor, is melting down."

藤崎一郎说：“ 的确某些燃料棒可能已经变形或者熔化。但是情况还没有发展到反应堆炉芯，即反应堆的实质部分正在熔化的地步。”

The ambassador spoke on NBC’s Meet the Press. Also appearing on the program was the head of the U.S. Nuclear Energy Institute, Marvin Furtel, who praised Japan’s response to the nuclear crisis. Furtel said a meltdown at a nuclear power plant does not always result in a massive release of radiation, as America’s own history shows.

这位大使在全国广播公司的“面对媒体”节目上发表了谈话。同在这个节目上露面的是美国核能研究所主管马文.费泰尔，他赞扬了日本对这次核危机所作出的反应。费泰尔说，根据美国自身的历史经验， 一个核电站的熔毁并不一定会导致大量核幅射。

"At Three Mile Island [in Pennsylvania], which was the worst accident we ever had, about half of the core melted, so about 50 percent. It resulted in no [radiation] releases off-site that threatened anybody. So, you can have fuel melt, and if the rest of your safety systems, your containment, works and you manage to keep the reactor under control, the dangers for public health and safety are really minimal."

费泰尔说：“在我们有史以来最严重的核事故发生地：宾州的三哩岛，核反应炉炉芯熔了差不多一半，也就是百分之五十。这次事故却并没有在周边地区导致危及任何人的核幅射。所以要是可能发生燃料棒熔化的话，如果你的安全系统、你的拦截机制有效，而你成功地控制了这个反应堆，那么对公众健康和安全的影响的确是微乎其微的。”

Some U.S. legislators are suggesting heightened scrutiny of America’s nuclear energy program in the wake of Japan’s crisis. Independent Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman says new nuclear facility construction should be placed on hold pending a full assessment of potential risks. But the Senate’s top Republican, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, says it would be a mistake to make domestic energy decisions based on fears surrounding a tragedy in another nation.

美国国会一些议员在日本的危机发生后，建议更为严格地检查美国的核能项目。自称为独立民主派的参议员利伯曼说，应当在全面评估潜在风险完成之前，暂缓进行新的核设施建设工程。但是参议院少数党共和党领导人麦康奈尔参议员说，根据另一个国家的悲剧而导致的恐慌来对本国的能源项目作出决定是错误的。