【新媒体中心·四六级专栏】学英语四六级阅读篇(六十四)

Fifteen years after Fukushima, Japan faces an energy dilemma

福岛核事故发生十五年后，日本面临能源两难困境

Electrical wires stretch above the pine trees around the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa (KK) nuclear power plant, along Japan’s northern coast. The plant is the world’s largest nuclear power station, with seven reactors which, at full capacity, could provide energy for millions of homes: useful as war in the Middle East sends imported gas prices soaring. As with all Japan’s nuclear fleet, KK shut following the Fukushima nuclear accident. But exactly 15 years later it is bubbling back to life. After winning long-sought approval from regulators and local authorities, the plant’s operator, the Tokyo Electric Power Corporation (TEPCO), restarted the first of the reactors last month.

在日本海沿岸北部地区，柏崎刈羽核电站（简称KK）周围的松林上空，电线纵横延伸。这座全球最大的核电站共有7个反应堆，满负荷运行时可为数百万户家庭供电；在中东战事导致进口天然气价格暴涨的当下，其价值越发凸显。柏崎刈羽核电站与日本所有核电厂一样，在福岛核事故发生后停运。但整整15年过去，这座核电站正逐步恢复运营。历经多年争取，在终于获得监管机构与地方政府的批准后，该电站的运营方东京电力公司（TEPCO，简称东电）已于上月重启了首个反应堆。

The powering up of KK is symbolically charged. TEPCO ran the ill-fated Fukushima reactors; KK is its first nuclear plant to restart since then. For nuclear boosters, it shows that atomic energy still has a future in Japan. For critics, it marks the unwelcome revival of a technology too risky for an earthquake-prone archipelago. Mostly, it reflects the impasse Japan’s energy policy has come to: a stalled renewable buildout, an ageing nuclear fleet and enduring dependence on imported fossil fuels.

柏崎刈羽核电站的重启投运，具有特殊的象征意义。当年福岛核事故的运营方正是东电，而柏崎刈羽核电站是事故发生后，东电首座重启运营的核电站。对核电支持者而言，此举说明核能在日本仍有发展前景。在反对者看来，在一个地震频发的岛国重启风险系数过高的核电技术实在令人难以接受。归根结底，此次重启折射出日本能源政策陷入的僵局：可再生能源建设停滞不前、现有核电机组日益老化，以及对进口化石燃料的长期依赖。

Japan is a resource-poor country. Nuclear power once seemed to offer a solution. By 2010 it had 54 operational reactors, providing some 25% of its electricity; the government aimed to expand that to around 50% by 2030. Then on March 11th 2011 the Great East Japan Earthquake struck, sending tsunami waters that flooded the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The disaster changed the politics of power.

日本是一个资源匮乏的国家。核能曾一度被视为解决其能源问题的方案。截至2010年，日本运行的反应堆共有54座，大约提供了25%的总用电量；当时日本政府设定的目标是，到2030年将这一比例提升至50%左右。然而2011年3月11日，东日本大地震发生，地震引发的海啸席卷了福岛第一核电站。这场灾难彻底改变了日本能源的政策格局。