日本关闭第四大核电站

A power company in central Japan says it is suspending operations at the country's fourth largest nuclear power station until it makes safety improvements.

日本中部地区的一家电力公司说，将暂时关闭日本第四大核电站，直到安全性能得到进一步的改善。

Monday’s announcement comes after Japan's Prime Minister asked the plant to halt operations because of concerns over the facility’s vulnerability to earthquakes and tsunami.

星期一公布这条消息之前，日本首相已经要求该电站停止运行，因为担心该电站无法承受地震和海啸的冲击。

The Hamaoka plant of Chubu Electric Power sits on the Pacific coast in an area that seismologists say is long-overdue for a massive earthquake. By one government estimate, there is an 87 percent chance that a quake of magnitude eight or higher will strike in the next 30 years.

日本中部电力公司下属的滨冈核电站座落在太平洋沿岸，地震学家早就预测，这一地区会发生大地震。日本政府的一项预测显示，该地区在今后30年内发生8级或8级以上大地震的可能性高达87%。

The worry is that a huge quake could knock external power supplies offline and cause a tsunami that would inundate the plant, which is the same thing that happened at the Fukushima Daiichi power station.

人们担心，大地震可能会切断外部供电，地震引发的海啸会淹没这座核电站，就像福岛核电站那样。

The government has requested Hamaoka suspend operations until safety improvements can be made.

日本政府要求暂时关闭滨冈核电站，直到安全措施得到改善。

Chubu Electric President Akihisa Mizuno announced the decision at a news conference.

日本中部电力公司总裁在新闻发布会上宣布了这一消息。

Mizuno says the company has decided to stop reactors 4 and 5 and postpone plans to restart reactor 3, which is currently stopped for maintenance.

他说，公司决定暂时关闭滨冈核电站4号和5号反应堆，并且推迟重新启动3号反应堆的计划。目前3号反应堆正在进行检修。