考研英語時文賞讀（142）：日本擬向太平洋排放核污染廢水

　　Japan May Have to Dump Radioactive Fukushima Water Into the Pacific Ocean

　　日本可能不得不將福島核電站的放射性污水排入太平洋

　　A Japanese official has just publicly announced that they might end up dumping radioactive water from the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean.

　　一名日本官員剛剛公開宣布，他們可能不得不將受損的福島核電站的放射性污水排入太平洋中。

　　The disturbing pronouncement came from the environment minister of Japan himself, Yoshiaki Harada. According to Harada, Tokyo Electric (Tepco), the firm tasked with the cleanup is running out of room to store the liquid, MailOnline reports.

　　這一令人不安的聲明來自于日本環(huán)境大臣原田義昭。據(jù)《每日郵報》 報道，根據(jù)原田義昭的說法，負(fù)責(zé)清理工作的東京電力公司用于存放這種放射性污染水的設(shè)施已經(jīng)沒有儲存空間了。

　　On March 11, 2011, a massive earthquake caused three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to meltdown, releasing radiation into the air and forcing the evacuation of more than 160,000 people from the area. Tepco has had to continually use fresh water to cool the reactors over the last eight years.

　　2011年3月11日，大地震導(dǎo)致福島第一核電站的3個反應(yīng)堆熔毀，放射性物質(zhì)泄漏，迫使超過16萬人從該地區(qū)撤離。在過去8年里，東京電力公司不得不使用淡水來冷卻反應(yīng)堆。

　　Through the process, the company has so far collected over 1 million metric tons of contaminated water stored in 900 tanks on the grounds at Daiichi. Harada says there would be no space left to contain the hazardous water by 2022.

　　在處理作業(yè)期間，該公司迄今已經(jīng)在第一核電站場址處的900個儲水設(shè)施中儲存了超過100萬噸的核污水。原田義昭稱，到2022年，將沒有空間來儲存污染廢水。

　　“The only option will be to drain it into the sea and dilute it,” Harada was quoted as saying during a press briefing. “The whole of the government will discuss this, but I would like to offer my simple opinion.”

　　原田義昭在一次新聞發(fā)布會上說：“唯一的選擇就是將其排入大海中進(jìn)行稀釋，政府將對該問題進(jìn)行商討，但我的看法就是這樣”。

　　In a separate media briefing, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga has distanced the government from Harada’s comments, describing it as “his personal opinion.”

　　在另外一次媒體發(fā)布會上，日本內(nèi)閣官房長官菅義偉將原田義昭的說法與日本政府撇清了關(guān)系，他將其稱為“原田義昭的個人觀點(diǎn)”。

　　Pushing through with the environment minister’s “simple opinion” could potentially cause tension in the Pacific region.

　　一旦推行環(huán)境大臣原田義昭的這種“個人觀點(diǎn)”，可能會導(dǎo)致太平洋地區(qū)的局勢變得緊張。

　　Just last month, South Korea summoned a senior Japanese embassy official to explain how Japan is hoping to address the Fukushima water situation. In a statement, South Korea’s foreign ministry shared that it advised Japan “to take a wise and prudent decision on the issue.”

　　就在上個月，韓國召見了日本大使館的一位高級官員，要求日本就如何應(yīng)對福島核污水的問題做出解釋。韓國外交部在一份聲明中表示，建議日本“在這個問題上做出明智和謹(jǐn)慎的決定”。

　　Greenpeace has been urging Tepco to keep storing the water and continue developing water processing technology that could remove the radioactive elements.

　　綠色和平組織一直在敦促東京電力公司繼續(xù)對核污水進(jìn)行儲存，并繼續(xù)開發(fā)能夠去除放射性元素的水處理技術(shù)。

　　(全文共314個詞)

　　重難點(diǎn)詞匯：

　　evacuation  n. 疏散；撤離；排泄

　　hazardous  adj. 有危險的；冒險的；碰運(yùn)氣的

　　summon  vt. 召喚；召集；鼓起；振作

　　prudent  adj. 謹(jǐn)慎的；精明的；節(jié)儉的