美全面评估核电厂安全

U.S. nuclear officials say exhaustive reviews of safety standards and procedures have been conducted at American reactors since the Japanese nuclear crisis stemming from a March earthquake and tsunami. That's what leaders of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission sought to reassure wary lawmakers Thursday at a senate hearing.

美国的核能官员表示，自从今年三月日本大地震和海啸引起日本核危机后，美国对核电厂的安全标准和操作程序作出了详尽评估。美国核能管制委员会官员星期四在听证会上，对关切这个问题的国会议员再度做出保证。

One hundred and four nuclear power reactors currently operate in the United States, providing roughly 20 percent of the nation’s electricity. It has been more than three decades since the United States suffered a major nuclear scare - the 1979 partial core meltdown at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, which resulted in no deaths or injuries.

美国目前有104座核反应堆在运转，供应美国大约百分之二十的电力需求。自1979年发生宾州三哩岛核事故以来，已经有三十多年了。三哩岛核事故造成部分炉心融毁，但是没有引起伤亡。

But recent events in Japan have refocused attention on nuclear safety and accident preparedness in the United States. Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey summed up the concerns of many lawmakers:

日本最近的核事故再度引起人们关切美国的核安全以及对事故的准备。来自新泽西州的民主党籍参议员劳敦伯格发出了许多议员的共同心声。劳敦伯格说：

“Since Japan’s nuclear disaster began unfolding, Americans have asked, with a good deal of trepidation: could it happen here? Nothing can be taken for granted where nuclear power is concerned," said Lautenberg. "Japan, a world leader in technology, believed the Fukushima plant was strong enough to withstand a worst-case scenario. And now we know it was not.”

他说：“日本发生核灾难后，美国人民深感不安，不禁要问：这种事会不会发生在这里？在核能运转的地方，没有任何事应该被视为是理所当然。日本，这个技术领先全球的国家，当初也认为福岛核电厂足以抵挡最坏的情况。而现在，我们都知道，实际并不是这样。”

All five commissioners of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission were on hand to answer senators’ questions. Chairman Gregory Jaczko detailed the commission’s actions since the Japanese crisis began.

核能管制委员会的五名委员全部列席这次听证会，回答参议员们的提问。核能管制委员会主席杰兹科详细叙述了自日本核危机开始后，该委员会所采取的行动。

“We issued instructions to our inspectors calling for immediate, independent assessments of each plant’s level of preparedness. The instructions covered extensive damage mitigation guidelines, station blackout, flooding, and seismic issues, as well as severe accident management guidelines,” he said.

杰兹科说：“我们给我们的检查人员下达指示，要他们对每一座核电厂的防灾准备，立即做出独立的评估。评估的范围包括广泛的减少损害指导准则，核电厂停电，淹水，还有大地震，以及严重事故的管理指导守则。”

Last month, the NRC reported that potential safety issues had been detected at 12 nuclear facilities.

上个月，核能管制委员会报告说，在美国的12处核设施里，检查出具有潜在的安全问题。

The chairwoman of the Senate Committee on the Environment, Barbara Boxer, seemed troubled by problems discovered at a nuclear site in her home state of California.

参议院环境委员会主席鲍克瑟女士，似乎对她的家乡州--加利福尼亚州一座核电厂被检查出有问题而感到困扰。

“NRC’s inspections at the Diablo Canyon power plant [in California] found that state highways and access roads needed to reach diesel fuel and an alternative seawater source for cooling may be inaccessible after an earthquake," said Boxer. "And hoses needed to get cooling water from the reservoir to the plant were blocked by a security fence.”

鲍瑟尔参议员说：“核能管制委员会对加州迪亚柏楼谷核电厂的检查发现，州际公路和进出道路需要能够容易接触到柴油燃料，以及在地震发生后无法取用海水作为替代冷却水。此外，从蓄水池取水喷洒降温的橡皮水管，又被安全防护篱笆给阻挡。”