日本福島核電站清理工作仍未完成

Seven years after one of the worst nuclear disasters in history, Japan is still struggling with the aftermaths, not only the tough tasks of reconstruction, but also nuclear cleanup work that is expected to take generations, with hefty costs and unsolved technical problems.

史上最嚴重的核災難之一發生七年後，日本仍在努力解決善後問題，不僅面臨災後重建的艱鉅任務，還有預計需要幾代人解決的核清理工作，成本高昂，技術問題尚未解決。

The massive earthquake and the ensuing tsunami on March 11, 2011 severely damaged three reactors at Daiichi facility in Fukushima, which suffered core meltdowns after their key cooling systems were knocked out and backup power supplies rendered useless.

2011年3月11日發生的大地震和隨後引發的海嘯嚴重損壞了福島第一核電站的三座核反應堆，這些核反應堆在其主要冷卻系統失靈、備用電源失去作用後堆芯熔解。

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. (TEPCO), operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, had since successfully decommissioned the No. 5 and 6 reactors at the plant, and more than 1,500 fuel rods in the No. 4 reactor had been taken out and safely stored by the end of 2014.

之後，福島核電站運營商東京電力公司已經成功將該核電站5號6號反應堆封爐，並且在2014年年底，從4號反應堆中取出超過1500個燃料棒並安全儲存。

But the problem lies with removing the melted nuclear fuel and debris from the No 1 to 3 reactors, which poses the biggest challenge to the decommission work.

但問題在於清理1至3號反應堆熔解的核燃料和碎片，這是關閉反應堆的最大挑戰。

The Japanese government and TEPCO have made plans to start fuel removal from the three reactors in 2021, but experts have expressed doubts regarding whether the plan could be carried out as scheduled.

日本政府和東京電力公司已制定計劃，在2021年開始從這三個反應堆中移除燃料，但專家們對該計劃能否如期實施表示懷疑。

"The multiple disasters that struck Fukushima seven years ago are not something that just belongs to the past, but are still affecting us," said Fukushima Governor Masao Uchibori.

福島知事內町正雄說：“七年前發生的多起災難不只是屬於過去，現在也仍在影響我們。”