福島核電站輻射太強 又一機器人報廢

A second robot from Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) sent into Fukushima's unit 2 reactor collapsed in less than a month's time due to high radiation levels.

由於輻射程度過高，東京電力公司向福島2號反應堆派出的機器人在不足一個月的時間內再次宣告報廢。

Less than two weeks ago, a robot that ventured into the reactor malfunctioned as the camera on it had been fried by record high levels of radiation just two hours after it started scrapping in the area.

不到兩週前，一臺機器人冒險進入反應堆，因該地區輻射濃度過高，機器人開始失靈，兩小時後其裝載的攝像頭起火，隨後該臺機器人宣告報廢。

The extremely high radiation levels inside the reactor have now left the second robot, Scorpio, malfunctioning so much so that Tepco decided to cut off its tether and leave it inside.

如今第二臺機器人“天蠍座”因相同原因再次報廢，東京電力公司遂切斷與其聯繫，將“天蠍座”留在反應堆內。

Fukushima's nuclear site which witnessed a major nuclear accident caused by the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami is largely contained but the unit 2 reactor is among the areas where radiation levels are at unimaginable levels.

2011年發生的地震和海嘯導致福島核電站爆發重大核事故，如今其大部分區域已經得到了控制，但是2號反應堆的輻射濃度高得超出想象。

In early February, the radiation levels inside the reactor reached an astonishing 530 sieverts per hour, a level high enough to kill a human within seconds.

2月初，反應堆內的輻射濃度達到了每小時530希沃特，足以讓人在幾秒內喪命。

The latest robot victim of the radiation was manufactured by Toshiba and was on a mission to investigate the pedestal underneath the reactor, where melted nuclear fuel is suspected to have fallen.

最近報廢的機器人是由東芝公司製造的，正在執行調查反應堆基座的任務，溶化的核燃料疑似落至基座區域。

Engineers now suspect as the robot was approaching the core of the explosion almost 10 feet away from its target its tank-like treads got stuck.

工程師懷疑機器人在接近爆炸中心時其坦克式的踏板陷入停滯，而爆炸中心距其調查目標有10英尺遠。

Although Tepco has not confirmed whether it was the debris or the radiation that stopped the robot, it is currently under investigation.

東京電力公司尚未確認導致機器人失靈的究竟是殘骸還是輻射，事故原因正處在調查之中。

Tepco has an enormous task of removing the molten radioactive fuel from three of the four reactors but this is the seventh robot to be affected by the radiation and the first to go as close as it went to the core of the explosion.

東京電力公司仍面臨着艱鉅的任務，必須將共計四座反應堆中三座的脫落核燃料移除，然而這臺機器人已經是第七臺受到輻射影響的機器人，同時也是距爆炸核心最近的機器人。

"Even though the robot could not reach the pedestal area, which we had initially planned to investigate, valuable information was obtained which will help us determine the methods to eventually remove fuel debris," Tepco said.

東京電力公司對此表示：“儘管機器人無法到達計劃調查的基座區域，但是仍然獲得了寶貴的信息，這有助於我們決定最終採取何種方式移除燃料殘骸”。