VOA标准英语2011--Chernobyl Disaster Leads to Advances in

Chernobyl Disaster Leads to Advances in Science, Medicine

The accident at the Chernobyl nuclear plant did much more than change the lives of hundred thousands of affected¹ people. It also contributed greatly to Western science. Physicists² and medical professionals learned a great deal from the Chernobyl disaster.
Many people abroad learned about the Chernobyl nuclear plant's explosion well before the population of the Soviet³ Union. However, Western scientists had little access to the Chernobyl site and medical data for a long time.
In 1991, Alexander Sich, an American of Ukrainian descent, was the first - and for the long time the only - Western scientist who worked in the Chernobyl zone, together with Ukrainian and Russian researchers.
"The scientists were isolated⁴ because it was a zone and also people by that time have forgotten about the accident," noted⁵ Sich. "The people didn't have the right equipment."
As Sich recalls, his biggest shock came when he realized that the helicopters that were pouring the mixture of sand, boron and other elements on the burning reactor⁶ were missing their target - the exposed and super-hot, nuclear core. As a result, the reactor continued to burn for ten days, and the core went into a complete meltdown
"In fact because the core was never covered, the melted fuel actually 'froze' [solidified] itself after 9 days," added Sich.
The scientist says that while the complete core meltdown at Chernobyl was a major disaster, it fell far short of the catastrophe⁷ many nuclear power critics had feared, the so-called "China Syndrome⁸." In that scenario⁹, the exposed core of a nuclear reactor becomes so hot that the molten material literally¹⁰ burns its way down through the earth. Chernobyl, at least, proved that to be a myth.
However, as soon as the reasons for the explosion became clear, Western nuclear experts lost interest in Chernobyl.
"Once the West understood what caused the accident and this type of the reactors¹¹ don't operate on the West, that kind of thing can never happen in the West," Sich added. "They were happy with that and they moved on."
But in the areas of medicine, pharmacology and emergency preparedness, the lessons from Chernobyl are still being learned. Alla Shapiro lived in Kyiv in 1986, and worked at the Kyiv Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion¹². She learned about the nuclear plant accident from her father.
"He called me to tell that he was listening to the Voice of America in the middle of the night, which was his usual thing to do to get the information, and the broadcast was that the nuclear plant in Pripyat - that there was a nuclear explosion," Shapiro recalled.
Later, Shapiro and other doctors were sent to the affected area, where she took blood samples from the population.
"The striking thing was how misinformed the population was at the village that was so close to the reactor," Shapiro added. "People didn't take any precautions. Nobody gave potassium iodide to children or adults in that area. And people were encouraged to use their products, collect mushrooms in the woods, and to burn leaves in the fall. So that the smoke, the mixture of radioactive isotopes¹³, was in the air and people were breathing it."
Now, 25 years after the catastrophe, Shapiro works as a medical officer in the Office of Counter-Terrorism and Emergency Coordination¹⁴, part of the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Drug Evaluation¹⁵ and Research. Her job is to make America ready for similar accidents, which involve radiation, or for the biological, chemical or nuclear terrorist attacks.
"The main [thing] is to have [a] high level of preparedness," Shapiro explained. "And the preparedness would include training the physicians and medical personal and informing the population in timely manner. With the first signs of radiation exposure, people have to go into shelters and then [comes] evacuation.? And in case of radioactive iodine¹⁶, it is mandatory¹⁷ that people have to receive potassium iodide."
Back in the Soviet Union, Shapiro recalls information was concealed¹⁸ not only from the population, but from medical professionals as well.
"[A] Librarian told me that they were forced to take all the literature with the word 'radiation' and put it in [an] archive," Shapiro said.
The Chernobyl disaster provided the field of medicine with some other valuable lessons as well.
"There are two big areas where eyes opened for the physicians on both sides of the World," Shapiro noted. "That radiation burns really attributed to prognosis and outcome of the patients with acute radiation poisoning, that radiation burns really kill patients, if they are extensive - even for the patients who underwent bone marrow¹⁹ transplant. Bone marrow transplant can't save [all] patients. So, selection of the patients for bone marrow transplant is really crucial."
In the United States, the drugs for preventive treatment and alleviation²⁰ of the effects of radiation poisoning are being developed. Shapiro and her colleagues at FDA collaborate²¹ with pharmaceutical²² companies and academic institutions on that task.
Any technological²³ disaster that takes human lives is a tragedy. But it can also teach lessons for the future if the information is shared and made accessible to experts all over the World.

1 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

2 physicists   

物理学家( physicist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• For many particle physicists, however, it was a year of frustration. 对于许多粒子物理学家来说，这是受挫折的一年。 来自英汉非文学 - 科技
• Physicists seek rules or patterns to provide a framework. 物理学家寻求用法则或图式来构成一个框架。

3 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

4 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

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 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

7 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

8 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

9 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

10 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

11 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。

12 transfusion   

n.输血，输液

参考例句：

• She soon came to her senses after a blood transfusion.输血后不久她就苏醒了。
• The doctor kept him alive by a blood transfusion.医生靠输血使他仍然活着。

13 isotopes   

n.同位素；同位素( isotope的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the many isotopes of carbon 碳的诸多同位素
• Tritium is one of the mildest radioactive isotopes. 氚是最和缓的放射性同位素之一。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

15 evaluation   

n.估价，评价；赋值

参考例句：

• I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
• The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。

16 iodine   

n.碘，碘酒

参考例句：

• The doctor painted iodine on the cut.医生在伤口上涂点碘酒。
• Iodine tends to localize in the thyroid.碘容易集于甲状腺。

17 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

18 concealed   

a.隐藏的，隐蔽的

参考例句：

• The paintings were concealed beneath a thick layer of plaster. 那些画被隐藏在厚厚的灰泥层下面。
• I think he had a gun concealed about his person. 我认为他当时身上藏有一支枪。

19 marrow   

n.骨髓；精华；活力

参考例句：

• It was so cold that he felt frozen to the marrow. 天气太冷了，他感到寒冷刺骨。
• He was tired to the marrow of his bones.他真是累得筋疲力尽了。

20 alleviation   

n. 减轻，缓和，解痛物

参考例句：

• These were the circumstances and the hopes which gradually brought alleviation to Sir Thomas's pain. 这些情况及其希望逐渐缓解了托马斯爵士的痛苦。
• The cost reduction achieved in this way will benefit patients and the society in burden alleviation. 集中招标采购降低的采购成本要让利于患者，减轻社会负担。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 口语

21 collaborate   

vi.协作，合作；协调

参考例句：

• The work gets done more quickly when we collaborate.我们一旦合作，工作做起来就更快了。
• I would ask you to collaborate with us in this work.我们愿意请你们在这项工作中和我们合作。

22 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

23 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。