美国国家公共电台 NPR--4 power substations on Washington state's electrical grid were attacked on Christmas

4 power substations on Washington state's electrical grid¹ were attacked on Christmas

Transcript²

This brings the total of reported attacks on the Northwest power grid to 10 since November. Attacks on substations in the Pacific Northwest have heightened concerns about grid vulnerabilities.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

New attacks on electrical substations in the Pacific Northwest have raised concerns about a vulnerable power grid. Four sites in Washington state or broken into and damaged over the holiday weekend. John Ryan of member station KUOW in Seattle reports.

JOHN RYAN, BYLINE³: On Christmas morning, Jim Dye woke up and noticed the lights wouldn't go on, and he had no water.

JIM DYE: Oh, yeah. All the homes out here are all electric, and a lot of them are on wells, which mean they're electric pumps. So everybody was out of water and out of electric.

RYAN: Dye was one of close to 15,000 customers who lost power after three substations in the Tacoma area were attacked before sunrise Christmas Day. A fourth substation was damaged and set on fire later that same day.

DYE: When you have four different stations and they were all targeted, that tells me that it was not just some kid throwing a bottle over the fence. So that's the part that bothers me.

RYAN: It's unclear whether these crimes were coordinated⁴ or what the attackers' motives⁵ might be, says Darren Moss⁶ Jr. With the Pierce County Sheriff's Department.

DARREN MOSS JR: At this point, we believe their goal was to shut down the power. The reasons for that, we don't know yet. We know about similar incidents in North Carolina, southern Washington and parts of Oregon.

RYAN: Multiple federal agencies have been warning utilities of the risk of white supremacist attacks on the nation's electrical infrastructure⁷. In February, three white supremacists from Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin pleaded guilty to federal crimes related to a plot to attack the power grid. Following an armed attack on a substation in North Carolina in December, federal energy officials ordered a review of security measures.

The lights stay on in this country because of a system that includes more than 50,000 substations. Those scattered⁸ outposts where high-voltage power is converted to the smaller voltages that come out of your power outlets⁹. Ross Johnson is a grid security consultant¹⁰.

ROSS JOHNSON: If you were to protect every one of them to the highest level possible, it would make electricity extremely expensive.

RYAN: Johnson says substations and power lines are often targeted by thieves looking to sell copper¹¹. But he says ordinary thievery has become less profitable thanks to improving surveillance technology and a shift to a type of copper that's harder to resell. Back in Pierce County, where the grid was attacked, Jim Dye says he salvaged¹² Christmas dinner by cooking pork bellies¹³ outside on his charcoal¹⁴ grill¹⁵.

For NPR News, I'm John Ryan in Seattle.

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1 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

5 motives   

n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
• His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。

6 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

7 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

8 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

9 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

11 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

12 salvaged   

（从火灾、海难等中）抢救（某物）( salvage的过去式和过去分词 )； 回收利用（某物）

参考例句：

• The investigators studied flight recorders salvaged from the wreckage. 调查者研究了从飞机残骸中找到的黑匣子。
• The team's first task was to decide what equipment could be salvaged. 该队的首要任务是决定可以抢救哪些设备。

13 bellies   

n.肚子( belly的名词复数 )；腹部；（物体的）圆形或凸起部份；腹部…形的

参考例句：

• They crawled along on their bellies. 他们匍匐前进。
• starving children with huge distended bellies 鼓着浮肿肚子的挨饿儿童

14 charcoal   

n.炭，木炭，生物炭

参考例句：

• We need to get some more charcoal for the barbecue.我们烧烤需要更多的碳。
• Charcoal is used to filter water.木炭是用来过滤水的。

15 grill   

n.烤架，铁格子，烤肉；v.烧，烤，严加盘问

参考例句：

• Put it under the grill for a minute to brown the top.放在烤架下烤一分钟把上面烤成金黄色。
• I'll grill you some mutton.我来给你烤一些羊肉吃。