The Satsop nuclear plant in western Washington State never generated a kilowatt of electricity. The cavernous and windowless nuclear reactor building has gone begging for commercial tenants for years. And it finally has one.
位于华盛顿州西部的萨特索普核电站从来没有发过1瓦电。多年来，这座象洞穴一样、没有一扇窗户的核电站一直在招商。如今，他们终于如愿以偿了。
Audio engineer Ron Sauro saw nothing but possibilities when he caught sight of the twin cooling towers looming over the forest near Elma, Washington. Sauro and his wife, Bonnie, run NWAA Labs, a small acoustic testing business. They were looking for a place with splendid isolation to open a state-of-the-art acoustic testing lab.
在华盛顿州爱尔玛市附近的森林中，两座冷却塔高高矗立着。很多开车经过此地的人们可能会琢磨：我什么时候可以搬进去？但这正是音响工程师罗恩·索罗脑海中的念头。索罗和妻子邦尼经营一个小型音响测试公司。他们一直在寻找一个足够隐蔽的地点，用来建一个测试最新型音响设备的实验室。
"When we normally build these kinds of laboratories, we usually build them underground or in the side of a mountain in order to be able to stabilize their environment," he says, adding that the Satsop nuclear project site is a much cheaper alternative.
索罗说：“通常，如果我们需要建造这类实验室，我们要么建在地下或者在大山边上，因为这样才能有一个稳定的环境。”索罗表示，萨特索普核电站是一个价格便宜得多的地方。
The reactor building was almost finished when construction stopped in the early 1980's. The utility consortium backing the project discovered it had overestimated future electricity demand. Also, public opinion turned against nuclear energy after a 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island power plant in Pennsylvania.
这栋建筑在1980年代早期停止施工的时候，工程已经进入尾声。那时，支持这个项目的电力工作人员会发现，他们高估了未来对电力的需求。另外，1979年宾夕法尼亚州三里岛核电站发生事故之后，公众对核能的态度发生了180度的大转变。
The mothballing of the Satsop nuclear project was such a debacle, the region's electric ratepayers are still paying for it. But it's a perfect setup for Sauro. Three meters worth of concrete walls stand between his lab and the outside. It was originally meant to contain nuclear radiation, though no reactor fuel was ever brought to the uncompleted power plant.
萨特索普核电站的封存是一个大灾难，至今，该地区的电力用户们仍然在为此付出代价。但是对索罗来说，这是一个再好不过的建筑物了。三米厚的水泥墙把他的实验室和外界隔绝开来，这原来是准备用来隔绝核辐射的。当然，由于这座核电站没有真正完工，所以从来没有任何核燃料被运进这栋建筑。
Now it houses what Sauro calls "the quietest room in the world."
索罗说：“就是说，我们很快将可以搬进去的这个房间，目前是全世界最安静的房间。”
Normally he blasts audio tones at earsplitting levels to test the sound blocking properties of various construction materials - doors, windows and wall insulation. The lab also produces ratings for loudspeakers.
索罗和妻子在这个房间里测试音响。通常他会把音量调至震耳欲聋，来测试声音是否会穿透不同的建筑材料，比如门窗以及带有隔音设备的墙壁。这个实验室还为扩音器产品评级。
The strange noise doesn't bother anyone else because of the super thick concrete walls. Just as the racket from the outside world can't penetrate in and throw off the measurements.
当然，这些奇怪的声音并不会干扰到任何人，因为那些水泥墙实在是太厚实了。同样，来自外界的声音也无法穿透水泥墙，不会对实验室内进行的测试活动造成干扰。
Sauro's landlord says his new tenant is getting an unbelievable deal., considering how much the region's utilities paid to build the failed nuke plant. Stan Ratcliff of the Satsop Development Park calls the place "one of a kind."
索罗的房东说，索罗捡了一个大便宜，想想这个地区的电力公司在这个最终没有建成的核电站上投入了多少资金。萨特索普开发园区的斯坦·拉特克利夫称萨特索普核电站是独一无二的。
"Just the concrete work - not talking about other things that were done within the building, not even the design - but just the concrete work was $440 million."
他说：“就光看那些水泥活，更不要说核电站里的其它东西，也不用说它的设计，就是光那些水泥就已经用去了4亿4千万美元。”
The acoustic lab leases just a small fraction of the available space in the reactor building. Ratcliff hopes word will get around, attracting more companies in need of isolation who see much more than an abandoned old power plant.
索罗租下来改造成为音响实验室的只是这个核电站的一小部分。拉特克利夫希望，通过口口相传，他们能吸引更多需要隔离工作空间的公司。 |