雙語閱讀-全球數(shù)十核反應(yīng)堆位于地震帶

1、Dozens Of World's Reactors Situated InQuake ZonesAnalysisDozens of nuclear reactors operate in earthquake-prone regions around the world, including at least 14 in high-hazard areas, a Wall Street Journal analysis shows.Most of those plants are in just two places: Japan and Taiwan, both islands w

2、ith limited natural resources that have chosen the risks of nuclear calamity over complete dependence on foreign sources of energy.Both are now being forced to re-evaluate that calculation amid Japan's unfolding nuclear crisis. A poll in Taiwan taken Monday-four days after a 9.0 magnitude earthq

3、uake off the coast of Japan triggered massive devastation and deadly tsunamis-showed that 55% of respondents lacked confidence in the island's nuclear facilities. The Wall Street Journal looked at the location of more than 400 nuclear reactors across the world-as well as another 100 that are eit

4、her planned or being built-using data provided by the World Nuclear Association, a London-based industry group. The Journal then used data from the Global Seismic Hazard Program, a 1999 study by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Swiss Seismological Service, to determine the earthquake risk at each

5、plant.According to the analysis, 48 of the world's operating nuclear reactors, or 11%, are in areas known to have at least moderateearthquake activity. These include the Fukushima Daiichi reactors at the center of Japan's nuclear crisis. Fourteen, or 3%, are in areas of high activity. Ten of

6、 those are located within a mile of a coastline, making them at risk for both earthquakes and tsunamis.Japan and Taiwan together account for 10 of the 14 high-activity reactors. But the U.S. has two reactors in such areas and Slovenia and Armenia has one each. Armenia has another planned.The nuclear

7、 industry says reactors world-wide are built to withstand the most powerful quakes thought possible at each location, plus usually an added safety factor in case those projections are wrong. The Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan apparently survived last week's powerful earthquake intact, only to

8、fall victim to the aftermath.'There are large margins of safety factored into our plants,' said Tom Kauffman, a spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute, a U.S. trade group.Late Friday, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued aninformation notice that represents its first official at

9、tempt to explain the event at Fukushima Daiichi to operators of the 104 commercial reactors licensed in the U.S.The notice also included a recitation of steps American regulators have taken, over the years, to make sure that reactors are prepared for natural disasters or other extraordinary events-a

10、 section intended to reassure the public that U.S. regulators and industry are prepared. Preparation includes the development, the NRC said, for restoringcooling water to reactor vessels and spent fuel pools, both of which have suffered failures in Japan.Of the more than 100 nuclear reactors in the

11、U.S., only the two at Diablo Canyon Power Plant on the central California coast, are in ahigh-activity area. The Humboldt Bay plant on California's northern coast, was shut down in 1976 because of earthquake fears but still holds some spent nuclear fuel on the site.Kory Raftery, a spokesman for

12、Diablo Canyon operator Pacific Gas & Electric Co., said the plant is designed to withstand a 7.5-magnitude quake from the nearby San Andreas fault. Several other less well-known faults run even closer to the plant, including one less than a mile away that was discovered in 2008, but the reactors

13、 have been tested to withstand projected quakes from those as well.But scientists sometimes have underestimated how powerfulquakes can be. The temblor that struck Japan was more than 10 times bigger than the Daiichi plant had been tested to withstand. In 2007, theworld's biggest nuclear plant, J

14、apan's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, was damaged after it was hit by a quake far stronger than its designers anticipated.Antinuclear activists in Japan have long warned that the country's reactors are more vulnerable to earthquakes than operators and government regulators acknowledge.'A nuclear di

15、saster which the promoters of nuclear power in Japan said wouldn't happen is in progress,' said the Citizens' NuclearInformation Center, an antinuclear group based in Tokyo, in a statement this week.Nuclear power has also been controversial in Taiwan, where all four of the island's e

16、xisting reactors are built near major fault lines. Two more reactors are under construction near the densely populated cities of Taipei and New Taipei.The Atomic Energy Council, Taiwan's nuclear regulator, said all its plants are built to withstand earthquakes of magnitude 7 or above and tsunami

17、s of 12 to 15 meters. Both the regulator and government-owned nuclear operator Taiwan Power Company have pledged to take quick steps to increase safety margins if necessary.Energy experts say it may be hard for Japan and Taiwan to move away from nuclear power. 'Developing nuclear is a way to bot

18、h diversify and reduce dependence on imported oil gas and coal,' said Jone-LinWang, managing director of global power for the energy consulting firm IHS CERA and a native of Taiwan.To be sure, most countries have tried to locate nuclear plantsoutside of quake zones.'There are not that many p

19、laces where reactors are built on these major fault zones,' said Ben van der Pluijm, a geologist at the University of Michigan. 'Japan is probably the poster child.'全球數(shù)十核反應(yīng)堆位于地震帶華爾街日報(bào)的一份分析評估報(bào)告顯示，全球在地震易發(fā)區(qū)運(yùn)行的核反應(yīng)堆有數(shù)十個(gè)，其中至少14個(gè)反應(yīng)堆位于地震高危區(qū)。而這些核電站大多分布在兩個(gè)地方，即日本和臺灣。這兩個(gè)地方由于自然資源有限，所以選擇建設(shè)核電站，寧愿冒著核災(zāi)難的

20、風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，也不愿完全依賴外國能源供給。隨著日本核危機(jī)造成的影響不斷顯現(xiàn)，日本和臺灣均被迫重新評估自己的能源選擇。臺灣上周一(3月14日)的一份民意調(diào)查顯示，55%的被調(diào)查者對臺灣核設(shè)施缺乏信心。3月11日，日本沿海一帶發(fā)生9.0級地震，造成了巨大破壞，并引發(fā)海嘯，人員傷亡慘重。華爾街日報(bào)使用英國倫敦行業(yè)組織世界核協(xié)會(World Nuclear Association)提供的數(shù)據(jù)，察看了全球400多個(gè)投入運(yùn)營的核反應(yīng)堆的地理位置以及100個(gè)規(guī)劃完畢或在建的核反應(yīng)堆位置，然后又使用美國地質(zhì)調(diào)查局(U.S. Geological Survey) 1999年的一份研究以及全球地震災(zāi)害項(xiàng)目(Global

21、Seismic Hazard Program)和瑞士地震研究所(Swiss Seismological Service)提供的相關(guān)資料，測定每個(gè)核電站的地震風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。根據(jù)這份分析報(bào)告，全球正在運(yùn)行的核反應(yīng)堆當(dāng)中，有48個(gè)位于已知至少會發(fā)生中等地震活動的區(qū)域，占運(yùn)行中反應(yīng)堆總數(shù)的11%，這其中就包括日本核危機(jī)焦點(diǎn)福島第一核電站反應(yīng)堆。有14個(gè)反應(yīng)堆位于地震活動水平較高的區(qū)域，占3%，其中有10個(gè)位于距海岸線不到一英里（1.6公里）的位置，面臨地震和海嘯雙重風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。在位于地震活動水平較高區(qū)域的14個(gè)反應(yīng)堆中，日本和臺灣兩地就占了10個(gè)。美國也有兩個(gè)反應(yīng)堆位于地震高發(fā)區(qū)，斯洛文尼亞和亞美尼亞也各有這樣一個(gè)

22、反應(yīng)堆。此外，亞美尼亞還有一個(gè)規(guī)劃中的反應(yīng)堆。核工業(yè)界表示，全球各地的反應(yīng)堆是按照可經(jīng)受該反應(yīng)堆所在地區(qū)可能發(fā)生的最強(qiáng)地震的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)設(shè)計(jì)建造的，并且通常還會增加安全防范系數(shù)，以防這些預(yù)測出現(xiàn)失誤。福島第一核電站似乎在9.0級的強(qiáng)震中完好無損，但在地震所引發(fā)的海嘯當(dāng)中受到破壞。美國行業(yè)協(xié)會核能研究所(Nuclear Energy Institute)發(fā)言人考夫曼(Tom Kauffman)說，美國核電站在安全系數(shù)方面留出了很大余地。上周五，美國核管理委員會(U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission)發(fā)布了一則信息公告，這是美國首次試圖向本國核反應(yīng)堆運(yùn)營商解釋福島第一核電站

23、危機(jī)的官方努力。美國有104個(gè)已獲得相關(guān)許可的的商業(yè)核反應(yīng)堆。這則公告還列出了美國核監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)多年來為確保核反應(yīng)堆可抵御自然災(zāi)害或其它非常事件的影響所采取的各項(xiàng)措施，此舉意在安慰美國民眾，讓他們知道美國監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)和核工業(yè)已經(jīng)做出了防患于未然的準(zhǔn)備。美國核管理委員會說，準(zhǔn)備工作包括研究如何向反應(yīng)堆容器和乏燃料池恢復(fù)冷卻水的注入等。日本福島第一核電站的反應(yīng)堆容器和乏燃料池均在災(zāi)害中受損，無法工作。美國100多座核反應(yīng)堆中，只有加州中部海岸代阿布洛峽谷核電站(Diablo Canyon Power Plant)的兩座反應(yīng)堆處于地震活躍地區(qū)。加州北部海岸洪堡灣(Humboldt Bay)核電站已經(jīng)在1976年由于對地震的擔(dān)憂而被關(guān)閉，但現(xiàn)場仍有部分乏燃料。代阿布洛峽谷核電站運(yùn)營商太平洋氣電公司 (Pacific Gas &Electric Co.)發(fā)言人拉夫特里(Kory Raftery)說，按照設(shè)計(jì)，這座核電站能夠