日本核泄漏威胁持续
Fears rise over second nuclear reactor
Radiation continued to leak from an earthquake-stricken nuclear power station in Japan on Sunday as engineers worked to cool its overheated fuel, while thousands of people along the country’s northeastern coast remained missing after Friday’s quake and tsunami.
在日本大地震中受损的一个核电站周日继续发生核辐射泄漏，工程师们正努力为核反应堆温度过高的燃料降温。与此同时，日本东北部海岸地区，仍有数千人在上周五的大地震和海啸后下落不明。
Conditions at the Number Three reactor at Tokyo Electric Power’s (Tepco) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility, 240km north of Tokyo, deteriorated overnight as its coolant systems failed, forcing operators to pump seawater into the reactor vessel. The same emergency measure was employed on Saturday at the Number One reactor.
东京电力公司(Tokyo Electric Power)福岛第一核电站的三号核反应堆在周六夜间情况恶化，冷却系统失效，操作人员不得不向反应堆容器内注入海水为其降温。周六，操作人员曾经向该核电站的一号反应堆采取了同样的紧急措施。
Yukio Edano, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, said there was a “significant possibility” that a meltdown had occurred at both the Number One and Number Three reactors at the facility. “We are acting under the assumption that it has,” he told a televised news conference.
日本官方长官枝野幸男(Yukio Edano)表示，一号反应堆和三号反应堆“很有可能”已经发生了核心熔毁。他在一个新闻发布会上说：“我们现在采取的措施，都是基于核心已经融汇的假设。”
Radiation levels at the site spiked as engineers vented contaminated steam from both reactors to relieve pressure building up inside. “Tiny amounts” of radioactive material had escaped into the air during the ventilations, Mr Edano said.
此前工程师们曾为上述两个反应堆释放蒸汽为内部减压，由于蒸汽含有放射性物质，这一地区的核辐射水平急剧上升。枝野幸男说，有“微量”的放射性物质随着蒸汽被排放至大气中。
At least 1,500 people were reported to have died and thousands more were still unaccounted for. Nearly 400,000 people had been evacuated to temporary shelters.
日本大地震和海啸已经造成至少1500人死亡，更多人目前仍然下落不明。将近40万人被疏散至暂时住所。
On Saturday, the steel and concrete building housing the Fukushima Daiichi Number One nuclear reactor was blown apart by an explosion, but officials said the blast had not breached the reactor’s core. Scientists said the use of sea water in the attempt to cool the Number One reactor was a highly unusual step, suggesting that more conventional options for bringing the situation under control had been exhausted.
周六，福岛第一核电站一号反应堆钢和混凝土结构的厂房发生爆炸，但日本官员称，爆炸并未危及反应堆核心。但科学家们表示，向一号反应堆注入海水降温，是一个极其不寻常的举措，这意味着更为常规的措施都失效了。
There were reports that about 160 local residents may have been exposed to radiation. Thirteen people were diagnosed with possible radiation exposure, according to local media.
有报道称，当地大约160名居民可能已经遭受核辐射。当地媒体报道称，有13人已经被诊断可能遭受了核辐射。
The Japanese government doubled the radius of the evacuation zone around the power plant to 20km after the blast.
一号反应堆厂房爆炸发生后，日本政府已经把该核电站周围的疏散区的半径增加了一倍，到20公里。
People living and working near the plant were being evacuated on Saturday night and the International Atomic Energy Agency said the government was preparing to distribute iodine tablets, a treatment that can prevent the body from absorbing radiation in the event of a leak.
在该核电站附近居住和工作的居民周六晚上被疏散。国际原子能机构表示，日本政府准备发放碘片——这是在一旦发生核泄漏时防止人体吸收核辐射的一种疗法。
Television footage showed a large explosion at 3:36pm local time on Saturday, with plumes of grey smoke pouring from the site. Tepco said four workers at the site were injured in the explosion.
电视新闻画面显示，一号反应堆爆炸发生于当地时间周六下午3点36分，灰色烟雾随即笼罩了核电站上空。东京电力公司称，四名在现场员工在爆炸中受伤。
At the time Mr Edano said the blast had “destroyed the roof of the outer building but the reactor containment vessel did not explode”.
当时，枝野幸男称爆炸“摧毁了反应堆外部建筑的屋顶，但反应堆容器没有爆炸。”
The level of radiation was higher than normal before the blast because engineers had been venting contaminated steam from the reactor vessel, in an effort to relieve pressure that had been building since the cooling system failed on Friday. The venting process triggered the explosion when combustible hydrogen released by the steam mixed with oxygen in the air, officials said.
在爆炸发生之前，核电站周围的核辐射水平就已经高于往常，那是因为反应堆冷却系统在周五因地震失效后，内部压力不断上升，工程师们不得不释放含有辐射物质的蒸汽为内部降压。日本官员说，正是被释放的蒸汽包含的可燃氢气在接触到大气中的氧气后，导致了那次爆炸。
Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (Nisa) confirmed the presence of caesium and iodine, both radioactive elements, in the vicinity of Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1. Nisa reported an initial increase in levels of radioactivity around the plant earlier on Saturday, but these levels have been observed to lessen in recent hours.
日本核能与工业安全署确认，在福岛第一核电站周围测得了铯和碘，两者都具有放射性。在周六早晨，该署首次报告在核电站附近的辐射水平出现上升，但辐射水平在过去几小时内有所下降。
The stricken Fukushima Daiichi facility has six reactors in total, but three were shut for maintenance when the earthquake occurred. The other plant, Fukushima Daini, also experienced coolant problems, and authorities have instructed people living within 10km of that facility to evacuate.
受损的福岛第一核电站有六座核反应堆，但地震发生时，有三座因维修而关闭。另外一座核电站——福岛第二核电站也发生了冷却系统失灵的问题，官方已经要求在其周边10公里以内的居民撤离。
Earlier on Saturday, Naoto Kan, Japan’s prime minister, flew to the Fukushima power plant.
周六早些时候，日本首相菅直人视察了福岛第一核电站。
