難関大学を目指し、英文記事を読む！

Nature Podcast: 31 March 2011

音声付で生の英語を聞いてみよう。
25 years since the Chernobyl nuclear disaster

Listen now | Text (html):

http://www.nature.com/nature/podcast/index-2011-03-31.html

Download: mp3 http://media.nature.com/download/nature/nature/podcast/v471/n7340/nature-2011-03-31.mp3

Text (html):

http://www.nature.com/nature/podcast/v471/n7340/nature-2011-03-31.html

Japan Nuclear Disaster Put on Par With Chernobyl

最悪の事態に

TOKYO — Japan has raised its assessment of the accident at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to the worst rating on an international scale, putting the disaster on par with the 1986 Chernobyl explosion, in an acknowledgement that the human and environmental consequences of the nuclear crisis could be dire and long-lasting.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/world/asia/13japan.html

12 April 2011 Japan: Nuclear crisis raised to Chernobyl level

Japanese authorities have raised the severity rating of their nuclear crisis to the highest level, seven.
The decision reflects the total release of radiation at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi power plant, which is ongoing, rather than a sudden deterioration.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13045341

 

4/2 BBCのNik Gowingが東電や日本政府の情報の信頼性を疑問視

BBCのインタビュービデオクリップです。

Yukiya Amanoさんの英語は、日本人なのでわかりやすいです。

Nik Gowing speaks to Yukiya Amano, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency about the credibility of information from Tepco and the Japanese government.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/the_hub/default.stm

IAEAのWeb

http://www.iaea.org/

4/2 大地震、原発事故に関するNatureの特集

JAPAN EARTHQUAKE AND NUCLEAR CRISIS

Japan is struggling with its worst-ever nuclear power disaster, following the magnitude-9 earthquake and massive tsunamis that struck the country on 11 March. Nature brings you regular updates on the crisis, as well as analysis of why this earthquake was so destructive, the Japanese government's struggle to respond to the nuclear disaster, and the effects on Japan's research community.

http://www.nature.com/news/specials/japanquake/index.html

メインページから

*Fukushima update: did nuclear chain reactions continue after shut-down?
There is growing evidence that uranium and plutonium fuel at the Fukushima nuclear plant may have continued nuclear fission chain reactions long after the reactors were shut down almost three weeks ago.( 01 April 2011 )

*Fukushima update: on pregnant women and radiation doses Following a rash of news stories saying that pregnant women were fleeing Tokyo, fearing the effects of Fukushima radiation on their unborn children.( 31 March 2011 )

*Concerns over nuclear energy are legitimate Reassurances from 'experts' on the safety of nuclear power will not wash, says Colin Macilwain. The Fukushima crisis raises genuine questions.( 30 March 2011 )

3/28 予断を許さない

福島原発事故は「予断を許さない」状況になっています。菅総理がなかなかコメントしないことに批判の声も上がっていましたが、一週間ぶりに公式にコメントし、「予断を許さない」ということを言ったとか。以下はロイターの記事ですが、"nowhere near the point" of being resolvedという英訳になるのでしょうか。

Radiation fears escalated in Japan on Friday after workers suffered burns as they tried to cool an earthquake-crippled nuclear power station, while the government sowed confusion over whether it was widening an evacuation zone around the plant.Prime Minister Naoto Kan, making his first public statement on the crisis in a week, said the situation at the Fukushima nuclear complex north of Tokyo was "nowhere near the point" of being resolved.

[以下は以下のサイトへ]  

 http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=radiation-fears-mount-again

何よりの問題点は、今の状況の深刻さにも関わらず、正確な情報がどこにあるのか不明なことです。東電がもっていて出さないのか、それもともそもそも東電には情報収集の能力がないのか・・・・？（とんでもない情報が出てきたりもしている）また、「圧力容器損傷の報告ない」という官房長官の説明はなにを意味しているのだろうか。やはり「溶解」が始まっている、と考えるのが自然なのではないのか。

さらに、京都新聞には、「土壌汚染「チェルノブイリ強制移住」以上　京大助教試算」という記事も。

http://www.kyoto-np.co.jp/top/article/20110328000068

日本語を読んだら、関連記事をScienceで読んでみよう。
Japan Soil Measurements Surprisingly Highby Jocelyn Kaiser on 25 March 2011, 6:14 PM

http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2011/03/japan-soil-measurements-surprisingly.html

その他のScienceの特集：

http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/japan_quake/

3/27 Silkwood (1983)

核施設については秘密主義であることは、日本もアメリカも共通。今回の原発事故に関しても東電が情報を出し渋っていることが明らかです。また、東電関連に天下りが予定されている○○保安院は、御身大切で自らを守る「保安員」。東電が出したくない情報は出しません。
紹介するのは、米国の核関連施設の従業員であったKaren Silkwoodの謎の死をめぐる実話を映画化したものです。概要は以下です。
The story of Karen Silkwood, a metallurgy worker at a plutonium processing plant who was purposefully contaminated, psychologically tortured and possibly murdered to prevent her from exposing blatant worker safety violations at the plant.
Karen Gay Silkwood (February 19, 1946 – November 13, 1974) was an American labor union activist and chemical technician at the Kerr-McGee plant near Crescent, Oklahoma, United States. Silkwood's job was making plutonium pellets for nuclear reactor fuel rods. She died under mysterious circumstances after investigating claims of irregularities and wrongdoing at the Kerr-McGee plant.
なお、DVD『シルクウッド』 はレンタルショップにあると思います。R1であれば、amazon.comで入手可能です。
graded readerは、以下です。The Death of Karen Silkwood (Oxford Bookworms Series) http://www.amazon.co.jp/Death-Karen-Silkwood-Oxford-Bookworms/dp/0194790576/
The Death of Karen Silkwood (Oxford Bookworms Library)CD Pack http://www.amazon.co.jp/Death-Silkwood-Oxford-Bookworms-Library/dp/0194790193/

3/16 Last Defense at Troubled Reactors:

もう、現場での作業にも限界がきているようで、自衛隊ヘリで空から冷却作業を開始するらしいが、果たしてうまくいくのか？NYTはかなり悲観的。

Last Defense at Troubled Reactors: 50 Japanese WorkersBy KEITH BRADSHER and HIROKO TABUCHIPublished: March 15, 2011
A small crew of technicians, braving radiation and fire, became the only people remaining at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station on Tuesday — and perhaps Japan's last chance of preventing a broader nuclear catastrophe. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/16/world/asia/16workers.html?_r=1&ref=global-home