Experts Call for Local and Regional Control of Sites for Radioactive Waste

The withdrawal of Nevada’s Yucca Mountain as a potential nuclear waste repository¹ has reopened the debate over how and where to dispose of spent nuclear fuel and high-level nuclear waste. In an article in the July 10 issue of Science, University of Michigan² geologist Rodney Ewing and Princeton University³ nuclear physicist Frank von Hippel argue that, although federal agencies should set standards and issue licenses for the approval of nuclear facilities, local communities and states should have the final approval on the siting of these facilities. The authors propose the development of multiple sites that would service the regions where nuclear reactors are located.

“The main goal…, should be to provide the United States with multiple alternatives and substantial public involvement in an open siting and design process that requires acceptance by host communities and states,”the authors write.

Ewing and von Hippel also analyze the reasons why Yucca Mountain, selected by Congress⁴ in 1987 as the only site to be investigated for long-term nuclear waste disposal, finally was shelved⁵ after more than three decades of often controversial debate. The reasons include the site’s geological problems, management problems, important changes in the Environmental Protection Agency’s standard, unreliable funding and the failure to involve local communities in the decision-making process.

Going forward, efforts should be directed at locating storage facilities in the nation’s northeastern, southeastern, midwestern and western regions, and states within a given region should be responsible for developing solutions that suit their particular circumstances. Transportation of nuclear waste over long distances, which was a concern with the Yucca Mountain site, would be less of a problem because temporary storage or geological disposal sites could be located closer to reactors.

“This regional approach would be similar to the current approach in Europe, where spent nuclear fuel⁶ and high-level nuclear waste⁷ from about 150 reactors and reprocessing plants is to be moved to a number of geological repositories in a variety of rock types⁸,”said Rodney Ewing, who has written extensively about the impact of nuclear waste management on the environment and who has analyzed safety assessment criteria for the controversial Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository.

词汇:

radioactive adj.放射性的   

geologist n.地质学家

shelve v.搁置      

reactor n.反应堆，反应器

repository n.储藏地，储藏室   

geological adj. 地质的

controversial adj. 有争议的     

注释:    

1. The withdrawal of Nevada’s Yucca Mountain as a potential nuclear waste repository: Nevada’s Yucca Mountain:美国境内的内华达州尤卡山。 nuclear waste repository:核废物处理库。美国能源部部长朱棣文 2009年 3月 5日表示，拟在内华达州尤卡山建设的核废物昀终处理库将不再是美国储存高放废物的一个选项。

2. University of Michigan:美国密歇根大学，建于 1817年。

3. Princeton University:美国普林斯顿大学，建于 1746年。

4. Congress:美国国会，美国昀高立法机关，由参议院 (Senate)和众议院(House of Representatives)组成。

5.…was shelved: ……被束之高阁。 6. spent nuclear fuel:也叫做 used nuclear fuel，一般译为“乏核燃料”。

7. high-level nuclear waste:高（强度）放（射性）核废物。

8. geological repositories in a variety of rock types:各种不同岩层中的地质处置库。 geological repositories指的是地表以下 300~1500米的稳定的地质体中建造的用于昀终处置高放废物和乏核燃料的工程设施。处置库是一个多重屏障系统，工程屏障由废物体、废物罐、外包装和缓冲回填材料组成，而天然屏障则是能有效阻滞放射性核素迁移的地质体，包括花岗岩、粘土岩、凝灰岩和岩盐等。许多专家认为地质处置是安全的，技术上是可行的，对环境是无害的。

What is meant by“regional approach”as mentioned in the last paragraph?

A:Waste disposal sites are located close to reactors and in places suitable for the regional circumstances. B:Geological repositories are located in a variety of rock types. C:Spent nuclear fuel and high -level nuclear waste is moved to developing countries. D:Waste disposal sites are located far away from reactors.

地域变异（regional variation）

区域卫生规划（regional health planning）

区域变质作用（regional metamorphism）

英译中：Regional distribution center

Europe has long prided itself on the notion that, even if its cousin across the At- lantic had surpassed it in matters geopolitical and military, its cultural cachet remained unrivaled. Europe was the capital of great literature, haute couture, the nouvelle vague. American culture may have spread to even the most remote reaches of the globe, but it was lowbrow. Superman and Hollywood blockbusters versus Picasso and Cannes.
But, as it turns out, America is actually winning the culture race for global audiences and leaving Europe in the dust, says French journalist Frtdtric Martel in his book, Mainstream. Martel spent five years traveling to 30 countries to conduct his research, and his conclusions are striking, especially coming from a Frenchman. American businesses are far smarter than their European counterparts at using new digital materials to distribute movies, music, television shows, and books all around the globe. Most of all, they excel in producing a "culture that everyone likes," says Martel. But mainstream doesn’t only mean Americanized. The strength of the U.S. is to be able to create universal content that caters to different interests.
Yet the U.S. is now getting some stiff competition from other countries that thrive in exporting their own cultural content. India, Brazil, China, and South Korea are fast becoming regional cultural powers, symbolized by the rising fame of Bollywood, telenovelas, and K-pop. In Latin America, in particular, Brazil is much more of a threat in the regional marketplace than the U.S. And in the Arab world," big multimedia groups are trying to unify a very diverse population by offering an alternative to the Western model.
This developing-world surge means Europe lags behind even more. In part, it’s because Europe’s default definition of "high culture" finds few fans abroad. European films and literature are increasingly seen as too ob-scure, arrogant, and self-referential to appeal to mass audiences. In part, it’s because each nation has its own cultural industry and little, if any, cohesion across EU borders. And Europe could learn a few things from the U.S. For example, American producers have figured out how to go for the margins as well as the middle-- which is to say, to diversify and market to a whole range of tastes and groups.
The result: even though the U.S. may be losing financial and political clout, it’s gaining soft power through its cultural, media, and technological exports. Europe can regain this soft-power edge only if it embraces some new notions: that mass culture is not necessarily "bad culture," and that diversity, including contributions from immigrants and new arrivals, could make its films, books, and art more accessible to audiences abroad. That is, if Europe really wants to be part of the mainstream.
In Paragraph 3, Latin America and Arab world are mentioned to show

A:the cultural surge of developing world. B:they thrive in exporting cultural content. C:American culture faces regional rivals. D:they become regional cultural powers.

RDC即为Regional Distribution Center，意为______。

A:地域物流中心 B:区域物流中心 C:前进物流中心 D:前端物流中心

RDC即为Regional Distrihution Center意为前进物流中心。

Regional Economic Integration