lethalandleaking听力材料原文.docx

lethalandleaking听力材料原文.docx

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lethalandleaking听力材料原文

AlbertEinsteinoncedefinedinsanityasdoingthesamethingoverandoveragainandexpectingdifferentresults.Well,that'swhatcriticsaccusetheU.S.DepartmentofEnergyof:

makingthesamemistakesoverandoverinaprojectthathasalreadysquanderedbillionsofdollarsintaxpayers'money.Buttheriskhereisfargreaterthanfinancial,sinceitinvolveshighlytoxicnuclearwaste.

Atstakearemillionsofgallonsofradioactiveliquidwasteleftoverfromthemakingofnuclearbombs,includingtheonethatwasdroppedonNagasaki.ThiswastehasbeensittinginundergroundtanksinHanford,Wash.,eversince,whilethegovernmenttriestofigureouthowtocleanitup.AscorrespondentLesleyStahlreports,thewasteissolethalthatasmallcupofitwouldkilleveryoneinacrowdedrestaurant,inminutes.

60MinutesrecentlyvisitedHanford,wherethewitches'brewisbeingstored.Hanford,locatedalongtheColumbiaRiver,ishometothemostcontaminatedpieceofrealestateintheworldoutsideofRussia.

Itiscontaminatedbywasteleftoverfromtheproductionofnuclearweapons.Thereare53milliongallonsofhighlyradioactiveliquidwastestoredinundergroundtanksthatarenowsooldtheyhaveleakedonemilliongallonsofthestuff.

Someofitleakedintothegroundwater,andit'sheadingrightfortheriver.Withamillionpeopledownstream,there'sasenseofurgencyaboutcleaningupthesite,whichishuge.Ittakesup586squaremilesinsoutheasternWashington.

ButfortheEnergyDepartment,whichrunstheproject,it'sbeenacaseofeasiersaidthandone.Inthenearly16years60Minuteshasbeencoveringthisstory,it'sbeenonefoulupafterthenext.

CharlesAnderson,theEnergyDepartment'sofficialoverseeingnuclearcleanup,gaveStahlatourofwhathasbeenbuiltsofaratHanford,startingwithareplicaoftheundergroundtanks.

"Thisisamodeloftanksthatarealreadybuiltthathavewasteinthem.Becarefulwithyourheadhereaswegoin,"AndersontoldStahlduringthetour.

Thetankcanhold750,000gallonsofwaste.Manyofthetanks,builtfortheManhattanProjecttodevelopthefirstnuclearweapons,aremorethan60yearsold.

Andersonexplainsthereareatotalof177tanksholding"high-level"wasteatthissite.

Theplanistopumpthewasteoutofthetanksandrouteitthroughmilesofpipestoayet-to-be-completedpre-treatmentfacility.Theideaistoconverttheradioactivewasteintoglasslogs.

"Thisiswheretheradioactivewastewillcomefromthetankfarms,willcomefromthosetanksandwillcomeinhereandbetreatedindifferentchemicalprocessesandbeturnedintoglasslogsforfinaldispositiontobedisposedofinalandfill,"Andersonexplains.

Stahllastvisitedtheareain2001,whenthesitewasjustafield.Andersonsayssignificantprogresshasbeenmade."Theplant's35percentcompleteinregardtoconstruction,"hesays.

Buttheplaceisatotalghosttown.Whathappened?

Whathappenedhereisthatafterthreeyearsofwelding,pouringcementandlayingmilesofpipesandtonsofsteel,constructioncametoascreechinghaltin2005becausetheEnergyDepartmentunderestimatedby40percenthowstrongthebuildingmustbetowithstandanearthquake.We'retalkingaboutabuildingthatwouldbefullofradioactiveliquid.

"Inabuildinglikethis,youneedtobuildittoensurethatitwithstandswhateveranearthquakemaypose-ifthereisone-becauseweabsolutelydonotwantabreechofthisradioactivematerialintheatmosphere,"saysGeneAloiseoftheGovernmentAccountabilityOffice（GAO）,Congress'investigativearm.

Buthere'swhat60Minuteshaslearned:

thattheEnergyDepartmentandthecontractor,Bechtel,wentaheadwiththeplantknowingtheirseismicstandardmightbeoff.JustasconstructionwasabouttobegininJuly2002,anindependentsafetyboardsentaletter,warningthedepartment.

"Energydebatedwiththesafetyboardforalmosttwoyearsoverthestandards,"saysAloise.

"Ok,letmeunderstandthis.Thisisbroughtupasanissuein2002.Insteadofgoingbackrightthen,theydebateuntil2005,duringwhichtimethey'rebuildingthebuilding?

"StahlaskedAloise.

"They'rebuildingthebuilding,"hereplied.

Theywerebuildingitusingthewrongseismicstandard.Becausetheydidfactorinsomemarginofsafety,thecontractor,Bechtel,hastoldtheEnergyDepartmentthereisnorestructuringrequiredonthefoundationorthewalls.

ButAloisesayswhattheydohavetofixaretheinternalcomponentsofthebuilding."Hangers,piping,vesselsupports,allofthisinteriorofthebuilding,wherethetechnology'sgoingtorest.Thatallhastobere-engineered,"heexplains."Theyhavetore-dotensofthousandsofdesigns."

Theseismicmiscalculationiscostingatleast$800millionandatwo-tofour-yeardelayincompletingthebuilding.Thispracticeofpushingaheadwithconstructionbeforetheengineeringiscompleteisknownas"fasttrack."

"ThepeopleinthestateofWashingtonwhoarelivingwiththisthing,theydon'twantittoslowdown,theywantittospeedup,"Stahlremarked.

"Butitdoesn'tworkinourviewoncomplex,technicalnuclearfacilitiesliketheonesinHanford,"Aloisereplied.

AskedwhathewouldtellthepeopleofWashington,Aloisesaid,"Thatweneedtodoitright."

Fasttrackwassingledoutasamajorproblemfiveyearsagowhen60Minuteslastreportedonthecleanup.

GaryJones,aGAOinvestigatorin2001,told60MinutesthattheyhadrushedaheadwithconstructionofthisbuildingatasimilarsiteinIdahobeforethedesignswerefinished.Weaskedaboutitbackthen.

"You'resayingtheywentaheadandbuiltthebuildingandthenwhentheywerefinishedmakingallthechanges,theequipmentwouldn'tfitinthebuilding?

"StahlaskedJonesinthereportfiveyearsago.

"Theequipmentforthisparticularprocesswouldnotfitintothebuildingasdesigned,"Jonesreplied.

Fiveyearsago,60Minuteswasassuredthegovernmenthadlearnedfromitsmistakesandthingswerefinallyundercontrol.Andyet,sincethen,costshavegonethroughtheroof,upmorethan150percent,andthestartdateformakingthoseglasslogshasslippedsevenyears,to2018.Theseismicerrorwasonlyoneofseveralsnafus.

TomCarpenterofthewatchdoggroupcalledGovernmentAccountabilityProjectgotholdofinternalEnergyDepartmentandBechteldocumentswhichrevealaseriesofproblemswithaspecialtankforprocessingorscrubbingthenuclearwaste.TheproblemsbeganwhenBechtelhiredanoutsidevendortobuildit.

"Theygavethewrongdesignspecstothemanufacturer,"saysCarpenter.…"Theygavethemalessstrictnucleardesign."

Accordingtothedocuments,whenthetankarrivedatHanfordithad"crackedstaywelds."Theywerefixed.Butthen"differenttypesofwelddefects"werediscovered.AndyetBechtelwentaheadandinstalledthescrubbertankanyway.

"Theystillsaid,'Wecanfixthosewhenthetank'sinstalled.'Sotheywentaheadandinstalleditwithdefects,allright?

"Carpentersays."Knowingit,okay.Soatthispointthey,Bechtel,demandedandthenreceiveda$15millionbonusformeetingamilestone."

Bechtelwouldn'tgive60Minutesanon-camerainterview,butdidsaythatthe$15millionwasn'ta"bonus,"itwasafee.Inanyevent,aftertheygotthemoney,a"newdeficiencywasdiscovered"by"independentinspectorsforWashingtonstate."

Thisnewdeficiency,saysCarpenter,wasdiscoveredafterthetankwasinstalled.

Carpentersays,"Theredflaggoesupandafullinspectionisthenorderedonthetank.Well,thefullinspectionshould'vebeendoneatthefactorywheretheybuiltthetank."

Askedwhetherthisinspectionwaspartofthecontract,Carpentersays,"Sure."

ThefullinspectionfinallyledBechteltorealizethetankwasnotuptospecification.ButCarpentersaysthat'snotall.

"Thedesignflaws缺点thatledtothistankbeingdeficientappliedto66othervessels,"Carpenterexplains."Sevenofwhichhadalreadybeenbuilt….Andtheyhadtogoandredesigntheonesthathadnotbeenbuilt,andfixtheonesthathadbeenbuilt.Itreallyraisesabigquestionabout,well,whathavetheynotcaughtoutthere?

Whatotherequipmentortools,ormachine,isinstalledmaybeunderfeetofconcretethattheseprogramsfailedtocatch?

Becausetheirprogramsfailed.Thecontractorfailed.TheDepartmentofEnergyfailed.Ittookanindependentinspectortofindnewdeficiencies.Whereistheadultsupervisionhere?

We'retalkinganuclearfacilityhandlingsomeoftheworstwasteintheworld,andthey'refasttrackingit?

Excuseme."

60MinutesaskedCharlesAndersonoftheDepartmentofEnergyaboutthis.

"Whenyouheartheygavethewrongdesignspecifications—youalmostcan'tbelieveit–ononepieceofequipment,andthenwhenyouhearit'sbeenrepeatedoverandover,Imean,thatdoesn'tsoundliketheDepartmentofEnergyismanagingthesituationverywell,"Stahlsaid.

"There'sanumberofthoseissuesthathaveoccurred.Thoseissueshavebeenidentifiedandcorrectedbutthere'salsoalarge,largepercentageofequipmentwherethespecshavebeencorrectlygiven,theequipment'sbeenpurchasedcorrectly,"Andersonreplied.

"Butthereshouldn'tbemistakeslikethatinaplantlikethis,shouldthere?

"Stahlasked.

"Well,Lesley,inalargecomplexfacility,aprojectlikethis,youdohavemistakes,"hereplied.

Andersonacknowledgedtheyarebigmistakes."Iwouldagreethattherearebigmistakesherethatwearetakingcontrolofandwe'recorrecting,"hesays.

"Youknow,I'mgettingalittledejavuherebecausewhenwewereherein2001itwasthesamething.'Wefigureditout.It'sbetternow.Noproblemanymore.'