Disaster: The stricken Fukushima power station is still leaking low-level radiation(dailymail.co.uk) |
Areas surrounding Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant could remain uninhabitable for decades due to high radiation, the government warned on Saturday as it struggles to clean up after the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. Japan faces the daunting task of decontaminating large areas of land around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex, which is still leaking low levels of radiation nearly six months after an earthquake and tsunami triggered a nuclear meltdown. In a meeting with local officials on Saturday, the government estimated it could take more than 20 years before residents could safely return to areas with current radiation readings of 200 millisieverts per year, and a decade for areas at 100 millisieverts per year. The estimates, which merely confirm what many experts have been saying for months, are based on the natural decline of radiation over time and do not account for the impact of decontamination steps such as removing affected soil. An vast area is still uninhabitable around the Chernobyl plant 25 years after that disaster. The Japanese government unveiled guidelines last week with the aim of halving radiation in problem areas in two years, but for spots with very high readings it could take much longer to reach safe levels. Japan has banned people from entering within 20 km (12 miles) of the Fukushima plant, located 240 km northeast of Tokyo. Around 80,000 people have been evacuated since the March 11 quake and tsunami and many are living in shelters or temporary homes. The government's announcement follows the release of data last week showing radiation readings in 35 spots in the evacuation zone above the 20 millisieverts per year level deemed safe by the government. The highest reading was 508 millisieverts in the town of Okuma, about 3 km from the nuclear plant. Kan, who resigned on Friday as leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan amid intense criticism of his handling of the nuclear crisis, also told Sato that the government planned to build a temporary storage facility in Fukushima for radioactive waste. The accident at the Fukushima plant is likely to have released about 15 percent of the radiation released at Chernobyl in 1986, Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency has estimated. But that is still more than seven times the amount of radiation produced by Three Mile Island accident in the United States in 1979, and experts have estimated Japan's decontamination efforts could cost as much as 10 trillion yen ($130 billion). (Read by Christine Mallari. Christine Mallari is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies)
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日本政府上周六警告稱,被廢棄的福島核電站周圍地區(qū)由于高輻射,可能幾十年內(nèi)都無法居住。福島核事故是切爾諾貝利核事故來最嚴(yán)重的一起,日本政府一直盡力清除放射性物質(zhì)。 清除福島核電站周圍廣大地區(qū)核污染的任務(wù)非常艱巨。此次核事故由地震及海嘯引起,雖然距今已有半年之久,但該地區(qū)依然有低量核輻射。 日本政府在上周六與當(dāng)?shù)毓賳T會(huì)談時(shí)估算,在目前年輻射量200毫希沃特的地區(qū),居民要在20多年后,才可以安全回家。年輻射量100毫希沃特的地區(qū)則需10年。 該推算根據(jù)的是核輻射的自然衰減,沒有計(jì)入人工再清除,比如挖走受污染土壤等因素。諸多專家?guī)讉€(gè)月以來一直持有這種觀點(diǎn)。 切爾諾貝利核事故已過去25年,但周圍的廣大地區(qū)依然無法居住。 日本政府上周公布了指導(dǎo)方針,目標(biāo)是在兩年內(nèi)使問題地區(qū)的核輻射量減半,但在一些高輻射地區(qū),需要更久才能降到安全線。 日本禁止人們進(jìn)入福島核電站周圍20公里(12英里)內(nèi)的地區(qū)。這里位于東京東北240公里。自3月11日日本強(qiáng)震以來,已有大約8萬人撤離,很多人還住在避難所或臨時(shí)住所里。 在公布這一消息之前,日本政府上周發(fā)布數(shù)據(jù)顯示,撤離區(qū)內(nèi)35個(gè)地點(diǎn)的輻射量超過每年20毫希沃特,而這一數(shù)值被政府認(rèn)為是安全線。最高輻射量出現(xiàn)在大隈的某鎮(zhèn),達(dá)到508毫希沃特,該地距核電廠3公里。 菅直人還告訴佐藤,政府計(jì)劃在福島建造一個(gè)臨時(shí)的核廢料儲(chǔ)存設(shè)施。菅直人因核危機(jī)后表現(xiàn)不佳而備受批評(píng),于上周五辭去了執(zhí)政的民主黨黨首的職務(wù)。 日本原子力安全保安院估計(jì),福島核事故的核輻射量已經(jīng)達(dá)到1986年切爾諾貝利事故的15%。 但這已經(jīng)是1979年美國三里島核事故輻射量的7倍多。專家估計(jì)日本人工清除核污染的措施將花費(fèi)10萬億日元(1300億美元)。 相關(guān)閱讀 日本核事故級(jí)別升至7級(jí) 與切爾諾貝利相當(dāng) (中國日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語點(diǎn)津 實(shí)習(xí)生沈清 編輯:Julie) |
Vocabulary: crippled: disabled in the feet or legs(殘廢的) daunting: causing fear or discouragement; intimidating(令人怯步的,使人氣餒的) decontaminate:to eliminate contamination in(凈化,排除污染) complex: a whole made up of interconnected or related parts(集團(tuán),綜合設(shè)施) reading: a measurement indicated by a gauge, dial, scientific instrument, etc.(讀數(shù),示數(shù)) |