六级阅读:日本核事故灾区或几十年内无法居住_大学英语阅读

六级阅读:日本核事故灾区或几十年内无法居住

　　Areas surrounding Japans crippled Fukushima nuclear plant could remain uninhabitable for decades due to high radiation, the government warned on Saturday as it struggles to clean up after the worlds worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

　　日本政府上周六警告称，被废弃的福岛核电站周围地区由于高辐射，可能几十年内都无法居住。福岛核事故是切尔诺贝利核事故来最严重的一起，日本政府一直尽力清除放射性物质。

　　Japan faces the daunting task of decontaminating large areas of land around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex, which is still leaking low levels of radiation nearly six months after an earthquake and tsunami triggered a nuclear meltdown.

　　清除福岛核电站周围广大地区核污染的任务非常艰巨。此次核事故由地震及海啸引起，虽然距今已有半年之久，但该地区依然有低量核辐射。

　　In a meeting with local officials on Saturday, the government estimated it could take more than 20 years before residents could safely return to areas with current radiation readings of 200 millisieverts per year, and a decade for areas at 100 millisieverts per year. The estimates, which merely confirm what many experts have been saying for months, are based on the natural decline of radiation over time and do not account for the impact of decontamination steps such as removing affected soil. An vast area is still uninhabitable around the Chernobyl plant 25 years after that disaster.