VOA标准英语2011--World Pledges $780 Million for New Shell

World Pledges $780 Million for New Shell for Chernobyl Nuclear Plant

The Fukushima factor reaches around the world to help raise funds for a new containment¹ shell for the stricken nuclear power plant at Chernobyl, Ukraine.
One week before the 25th anniversary of the nuclear power plant explosion at Chernobyl, world leaders pledged Tuesday to provide $780 million for the construction of a shelter designed to house the toxic² remains³ for another century.
Rain, rust⁴ and snow have weakened the first shelter, built 25 years ago and designed to last 20.
Laurin Dodd, an American engineer who is directing the new containment project, described the condition of the existing shelter, often called the sarcophagus.
"The sarcophagus itself had very large openings in it the size of picture windows, with small creatures going in and out and birds flying in and out," Dodd noted⁵.
Chernobyl suffered the what was then the world's worst nuclear power accident. The explosion sent a plume⁶ of contaminants one kilometer into the air over Ukraine. Winds carried radioactive clouds north over Russia and Belarus. 330,000 people had to be moved from their homes.
Today, millions of people live on contaminated land. A central core, is closed forever to human habitation. The governments of Belarus and Ukraine devote 5 percent of their national budgets to treating survivors⁷ and patrolling the no go zone.
Despite this legacy⁸, there was little optimism back in February when the European Bank of Reconstruction⁹ and Development (EBRD) took reporters on a tour of Chernobyl, hoping to raise world interest in paying for the new containment shell.
Then on March 11, a wall of water crashed into the nuclear power plants in Fukushima, on the Pacific Coast of Japan. Balthasar Lindauer, deputy nuclear safety director at the European Bank, described the Fukushima factor.
"Today at the pledging conference, Fukushima was mentioned very frequently, and I think it certainly has drawn¹⁰ attention to Chernobyl," said Lindauer.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told the conference that Chernobyl and recent events in Fukushima, Japan, were a reminder¹¹ that nuclear risks may not stop at a country's borders.
He pledged $156 million from the European Union to rebuild the Chernobyl containment shell. The United States delegation¹², led by former United States National Security Advisor¹³ Zbigniew Brzezinski made the largest single nation donation: $123 million.
By the end of the day, pledges had come in for three quarters of a final $1 billion needed to complete the project. All in all the new shell is to cost $2 billion and should be complete by the end of 2015.
Vince Novak, EBRD Nuclear Safety Director, led the foreign press group through the Chernobyl during the snows of February. Tuesday he told VOA from Kyiv:
"As a fund manager I am greatly relieved because that tells me that we can proceed full speed ahead with both of the large projects that we need to complete," said Novak.
Work has already started on the giant structure. To protect workers' health, it is being built 300 meters away from the Chernobyl plant, which still holds 200 tons of radioactive fuel and material.
Laurin Dodd explains that it will be built on rails.
"When it is actually ready to be slid into place it will be, I am told, one of the largest structures ever moved on land," noted Dodd.
The new shell will be two football fields wide and two and a half football fields long.
"The new safe confinement¹⁴ shell will be something like 16 or 17 stories high. You could fit the Statue of Liberty quite comfortably inside of it," added Dodd.
Inside, a central beam will hold a remote controlled moveable crane. This will be used to pick apart the old shell and then remove the molten radioactive mass from the bowels¹⁵ of the old plant. Special ventilation systems will filter air for release to the atmosphere and a heating systems will prevent the buildup of condensation¹⁶.
"It's being designed for a 100 year life, which means that we have to maintain corrosion¹⁷ control over that period of time. Basically, we have to prevent rusting¹⁸. So there will be extensive heating and ventilation systems," Dodd said.
On Sunday Tokyo Electric Power, operator of the damaged reactors¹⁹ at Fukushima, announced that it plans to build its own concrete and steel containment structure with an air filter. It expects to have this shell in place by the end of this year. It did not say how long that structure is designed to last.

1 containment   

n.阻止，遏制；容量

参考例句：

• Your list might include such things as cost containment,quality,or customer satisfaction.你的清单上应列有诸如成本控制、产品质量、客户满意程度等内容。
• Insularity and self-containment,it is argued,go hand in hand.他们争论说，心胸狭窄和自我封闭是并存的。

2 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 rust   

n.锈；v.生锈；(脑子)衰退

参考例句：

• She scraped the rust off the kitchen knife.她擦掉了菜刀上的锈。
• The rain will rust the iron roof.雨水会使铁皮屋顶生锈。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 plume   

n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰

参考例句：

• Her hat was adorned with a plume.她帽子上饰着羽毛。
• He does not plume himself on these achievements.他并不因这些成就而自夸。

7 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

8 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

9 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

10 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

11 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

12 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

13 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

14 confinement   

n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限

参考例句：

• He spent eleven years in solitary confinement.他度过了11年的单独监禁。
• The date for my wife's confinement was approaching closer and closer.妻子分娩的日子越来越近了。

15 bowels   

n.肠，内脏，内部；肠( bowel的名词复数 )；内部，最深处

参考例句：

• Salts is a medicine that causes movements of the bowels. 泻盐是一种促使肠子运动的药物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cabins are in the bowels of the ship. 舱房设在船腹内。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 condensation   

n.压缩，浓缩；凝结的水珠

参考例句：

• A cloud is a condensation of water vapour in the atmosphere.云是由大气中的水蒸气凝结成的。
• He used his sleeve to wipe the condensation off the glass.他用袖子擦掉玻璃上凝结的水珠。

17 corrosion   

n.腐蚀，侵蚀；渐渐毁坏，渐衰

参考例句：

• Corrosion is not covered by the warranty.腐蚀不在保修范围之内。
• Zinc is used to protect other metals from corrosion.锌被用来保护其他金属不受腐蚀。

18 rusting   

n.生锈v.（使）生锈( rust的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• There was an old rusting bolt on the door. 门上有一个生锈的旧门闩。 来自辞典例句
• Zinc can be used to cover other metals to stop them rusting. 锌可用来涂在其他金属表面以防锈。 来自辞典例句

19 reactors   

起反应的人( reactor的名词复数 )； 反应装置； 原子炉； 核反应堆

参考例句：

• The TMI nuclear facility has two reactors. 三哩岛核设施有两个反应堆。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• The earliest production reactors necessarily used normal uranium as fuel. 最早为生产用的反应堆，必须使用普通铀作为燃料。