福島核電站現大地震後最嚴重泄漏事故

Japan is scrambling to contain the worst spill of contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant since its meltdown more than two years ago, drawing fresh scrutiny to what experts say remains its shortsighted handling of the site.

日本目前正忙於遏制兩年多前福島第一核電站(Fukushima Daiichi)癱瘓以來其受損設施出現的最嚴重的污水泄漏問題，此舉引發外界再次關注對該核電站的處置情況。專家說，對核電站的處置十分短視。

On Wednesday, Japan's nuclear watchdog declared that the plant had suffered a 'serious incident'--level '3' on an international scale--after operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. () said some 300 metric tons, or 79,000 gallons, of highly radioactive water had leaked from a hastily built storage tank and warned that roughly 300 more of the potentially leaky tanks existed. It was the first declaration of a nuclear incident in Japan since regulators classed the meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant a level '7'--the highest--in 2011.

日本核監管機構週三公佈，福島第一核電站遭遇了嚴重事故――處於國際核事件三級水平。該核電站運營商東京電力(Tokyo Electric Power Co.)此前說，倉促建成的一個儲水罐泄漏了大約300噸高放射性水，並警告稱還有大概300個有潛在泄漏風險的儲水罐。這是監管機構2011年將福島第一核電站的熔燬事故定爲七級（最高級）以來，首次宣佈日本國內出現一例核事故。

'This is what we have been fearing,' said Shunichi Tanaka, chair of Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority, answering questions about the leak at a news conference. 'We cannot waste even a minute' to take action.

日本原子能規制委員會(Nuclear Regulation Authority)主席田中俊一(Shunichi Tanaka)在新聞發佈會上回答有關泄漏問題的提問時說，這是我們一直擔心的，我們一分鐘也不能耽擱，須立即採取行動。

Behind the leak is a more serious problem: During the past few months it has become clear that Tepco has lost control over the flow of water at the plant and the problem is escalating, nuclear experts say.

核專家說，隱於泄漏背後的一個更嚴重問題是，東京電力失去了對福島第一核電站水流的控制，整個事態有所升級，這一點在過去幾個月裏變得顯而易見。

Every day, the utility has to find a place to store around 400 tons of contaminated water that it pumps out of the radioactive reactor buildings, and Wednesday it warned that it is fast running out of space. Storage tanks set up on the fly during plant emergencies have started springing leaks, and Tepco can't replace them with sturdier ones fast enough. Groundwater-contamination levels are spiking at the seaward side of the plant, and water is flowing into the ocean past a series of walls, plugs and barriers that have been flung up to impede its passage.

每天東京電力都要找地方存儲從放射性反應堆廠房中抽出的大約400噸污水。該公司週三警告說，存儲污水的地方很快就要用完了。這些儲水罐是在覈電站出現緊急情況下匆忙建成的，現在開始出現裂縫，而東京電力又無法以足夠快的速度更換更結實的儲水罐。福島第一核電站靠海一側的地下水污染水平現在驟增，這些水經過倉促建好以阻止其外泄的重重 壁、塞子和障礙物流向大海。

That lack of control is a big liability, said Kathryn Higley, a specialist in the spread of radiation and head of the Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Health Physics at Oregon State University, who spent a week in Fukushima earlier this year.

研究輻射傳播的專家、美國俄勒岡州立大學(Oregon State University)核工程與輻射保健物理系(Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Health Physics)主任希格利(Kathryn Higley)說，缺乏控制力是一大責任。今年早些時候，她在福島待了一週時間。

'You have to find ways to control water coming through the site,' Ms. Higley said. 'With any sort of accident, you want to control the timing of what's released and when it gets released.'

希格利說，必須想辦法控制流經該核電站的水；無論是哪種事故，都要控制好時機，確定要釋放什麼以及何時釋放。

So far, the levels of radioactivity that have escaped to the outside remain relatively low, but some experts warn they may not stay that way--particularly as equipment ages and the heavy-duty work of dismantling the damaged buildings and removing the melted fuel rods proceeds. The radioactivity of the water in the most recent leak was so high that workers couldn't get close enough to search for the cause until the remaining fluid in the tank was removed.

到目前爲止，泄漏到福島第一核電站以外的污水放射性水平仍偏低。但有些專家警告稱，放射性水平可能不會一成不變，特別是考慮到設備老化和拆除受損建築及移除熔化燃料棒等繁重工作的開始。這次泄漏事故中水的放射性很高，在儲水罐裏殘存液體被移除之前，工作人員無法近前查找原因。

Tepco said it doesn't think that water has flowed into the sea but can't say for sure. Some of the flooded reactor basements are similarly too hot to approach, and it still isn't clear where the melted fuel cores are, or in what state.

東京電力說，該公司認爲輻射水尚未泄露入海，但不能確定。部分淹水的反應堆地下室溫度太高無法接近，而且仍不清楚熔燬的堆芯位於何處，或處於何種狀態。

'In the future there might be even more heavily contaminated water coming through,' said Atsunao Marui, head of the groundwater research group at Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology and a member of a blue-ribbon panel set up in May to figure out ways of managing the radioactive water. 'It's important to think of the worst-case scenario.'

日本產業技術綜合研究所(National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology)地下水研究小組的負責人丸井敦尚(Atsunao Marui)說，未來可能有受到更嚴重污染的污水，重要的是考慮最糟糕的情況。丸井敦尚是今年5月設立的一個高級專家小組的成員，該小組旨在想出辦法控制輻射水。

Mr. Marui and others say the biggest reason for the scramble now is that Tepco--and the government bodies that oversee it--weren't planning far enough ahead and waited too long to respond to problems they should have seen coming long ago.

丸井敦尚說，目前混亂情況最大的原因是，東京電力以及監查該公司的政府機構沒有進行足夠的提前規劃，而且等了太長時間才響應他們本應在很久以前就想到的問題。

Fukushima Daiichi was built some 40 years ago on the site of a river that was diverted in order to situate the plant, Mr. Marui said. It should have been clear that lots of groundwater would be rushing through the site, he said, and that any walls or barriers built on the seaward side would soon be overwhelmed--something that, indeed, has happened in recent weeks.

丸井敦尚說，福島第一核電站修建於大約40年前，其所在地原本爲河流，爲了建站而將河流改道。他說，相關方面應當清楚，會有大量地下水通過這個地方，而且臨海一面修建的任何圍 或屏障都會很快被淹沒，事實上這種情況最近幾周已經發生。

'They're only responding after the fact--they're not thinking ahead,' said Hajimu Yamana, a professor of nuclear engineering at Kyoto University who earlier this month was named chair of a new institute charged with helping develop measures to tackle the longer-term work of dismantling the plant. 'As an expert, I was watching it with frustration.'

京都大學(Kyoto University)核子工程教授山名元(Hajimu Yamana)說，他們只是事後響應，而不去防患於未然。山名元本月早些時候被任命爲一個新研究所的負責人，其任務是幫助設計相關措施，處理拆解該電站的長期工作。他說，作爲專家，我對所看到的情況十分失望。

Tepco said it is changing its ways, while the government and nuclear regulator have set up three separate committees of experts charged with helping fix Fukushima Daiichi's water problems. Those fixes have included everything from a plan to drain highly radioactive water from a set of trenches near the sea to a massive wall of ice that would surround the damaged reactors and keep water out. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe earlier this month promised money and resources to help.

東京電力說其正改變方法，同時政府和核監管機構建立了三個各自獨立的專家委員會，負責幫助解決福島第一核電站的積水問題。相關解決方案林林總總，包括從靠近海邊的一系列壕溝中排出具有高度放射性的水，以及用一面巨大的冰 圍住受損反應堆並防水。日本首相安倍晉三(Shinzo Abe)本月早些時候承諾給予資金和資源方面的幫助。

But even with the extra firepower, Tepco and its helpers are playing catch-up, and critics say response remains confused, shortsighted and slow.

但即使獲得了額外的增援，東京電力及其幫助者仍在進行事後彌補的工作，而批評人士說，相關響應仍然混亂、短視且緩慢。

'We have not remained idle, but we admit that we have been reactive,' Zengo Aizawa, Tepco executive vice president for nuclear public relations, said Wednesday at a news conference, during which the company was grilled about the leak. 'We are very, very sorry for causing concern.'

東京電力負責核電業務公關的執行副總裁相澤善吾(Zengo Aizawa)週三在新聞發佈會上說，我們沒有閒着，但我們承認一直陷於被動，我們對導致擔憂感到非常非常抱歉。東京電力在發佈會上就有關泄露事件遭到猛烈質問。

Tatsuya Shinkawa, director of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's Nuclear Accident Response Office said METI, which oversees Tepco, should have been faster at figuring out how quickly the situation at Fukushima Daiichi was changing in recent months.

日本經濟產業省(Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry)的核事故響應辦公室負責人新川辰也(Tatsuya Shinkawa)說，經濟產業省本應更快弄清福島第一核電站的形勢最近幾個月發生變化的速度。經濟產業省對東京電力負有監管職責。