Which rural area will take the UK’s nuclear waste?

哪個農(nóng)村地區(qū)將接收英國的核廢料？
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(Scientists study how nuclear waste can be "baked" into solid, stable materials, like glass.)

（科學家們研究如何將核廢料“烘烤”成固體、穩(wěn)定的材料，比如玻璃。）
新聞：

A repeating tone - blip, blip, blip - is the audible reminder that we are in one of the most hazardous nuclear sites in the world: Sellafield.

不斷重復的聲音——嗶，嗶，嗶——提醒著我們，我們身處世界上最危險的核設施之一：塞拉菲爾德。

That sound - pulsing from speakers inside the cavernous fuel-handling plant - is a signal that everything is functioning as it should.

這種聲音——從巨大的燃料處理廠的揚聲器里傳出——是一個信號，表明一切都在正常運轉(zhuǎn)。

That is comforting because Sellafield, in Cumbria, is the temporary home to the vast majority of the UK’s radioactive nuclear waste, as well as the world’s largest stockpile of plutonium.

這是令人欣慰的，因為位于坎布里亞郡的塞拉菲爾德是英國絕大多數(shù)放射性核廢料的臨時所在地，也是世界上最大的钚儲備地。

That waste is the product of reactions that drive the UK’s nuclear power stations and it is highly radioactive.

這些廢料是驅(qū)動英國核電站的反應的產(chǎn)物，具有高放射性。

It releases energy that can penetrate and damage the cells in our bodies, and "it remains hazardous for 100,000 years", explains Claire Corkhill, professor of radioactive waste management at University of Bristol.

布里斯托爾大學放射性廢物管理教授克萊爾·科克希爾解釋說，它釋放的能量可以穿透并破壞我們體內(nèi)的細胞，“它在10萬年內(nèi)仍然有害”。

Sellafield is filling up - and experts say we have no choice but to find somewhere new to keep this material safe.

塞拉菲爾德快被填滿了，專家說我們別無選擇，只能找一個新的地方來保護這些材料的安全。

Nuclear power is also part of the government’s stated mission for ”clean power by 2030”. More nuclear power means more nuclear waste.

核能也是政府宣稱的“到2030年實現(xiàn)清潔能源”的一部分。更多的核能意味著更多的核廢料。

Inside Sellafield’s fuel-handling plant, we watch from behind one metre-thick, lead-lined glass as operators remotely control robotic arms.

在塞拉菲爾德的燃料處理廠，我們從一米厚的鉛襯玻璃后面看到操作員遠程控制機械臂。

They manoeuvre joysticks on what look like large retro game-controllers, as the arms pull used nuclear fuel rods – still glowing hot and highly radioactive - from the heavy metal containers in which they arrived.

他們操縱著看起來像大型復古游戲控制器的操縱桿，同時把用過的核燃料棒從他們到達的重金屬容器中拉出來，這些燃料棒仍然發(fā)著熾熱的光，具有很高的放射性。

This complex operation never stops. Sellafield runs 24 hours a day with 11,000 staff. It costs more than ￡2bn per year to keep the site going, and it comprises more than 1,000 buildings, connected by 25 miles of road.

這種復雜的操作從未停止。塞拉菲爾德?lián)碛?1000名員工，全天24小時運轉(zhuǎn)。每年的運營成本超過20億英鎊，它由1000多座建筑組成，由25英里的道路相連。

However, in recent years, doubts have been raised about the site's security and physical integrity.

然而，近年來，人們對該遺址的安全性和物理完整性提出了質(zhì)疑。

One of its oldest waste storage silos is currently leaking radioactive liquid into the ground. That is a “recurrence of a historic leak” that Sellafield Ltd, the company that operates the site, says first started in the 1970s.

其中一個最古老的廢物儲存筒倉目前正在向地下泄漏放射性液體。運營該核電站的塞拉菲爾德公司表示，這是最早始于上世紀70年代的“歷史性泄漏的重演”。

Sellafield has also faced questions about its working culture and adherence to safety rules. The company is currently awaiting sentencing after it pleaded guilty, in June, to charges related to cyber-security failings.

塞拉菲爾德還面臨著有關(guān)其工作文化和遵守安全規(guī)定的質(zhì)疑。今年6月，該公司承認了與網(wǎng)絡安全相關(guān)的指控，目前正在等待判決。

An investigation by the Guardian revealed that the site’s systems had been hacked, although the Office for Nuclear Regulation said there was “no evidence that any vulnerabilities had been exploited” by the hackers.

《衛(wèi)報》的一項調(diào)查顯示，該網(wǎng)站的系統(tǒng)遭到了黑客攻擊，盡管核監(jiān)管辦公室表示，“沒有證據(jù)表明黑客利用了任何漏洞”。

All of this has cast a shadow over an operation that, as well as taking in newly created nuclear waste, also houses several decades worth of much older radioactive material.

所有這些都給這項工作蒙上了一層陰影，這項工作除了吸收新產(chǎn)生的核廢料外，還容納了幾十年的老得多的放射性物質(zhì)。

The site no longer produces or reprocesses any nuclear material, but this is where the race began to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons at the height of the Cold War.

該基地不再生產(chǎn)或再加工任何核材料，但在冷戰(zhàn)高峰時期，這里是生產(chǎn)用于核武器的钚的競賽開始的地方。

“It was the dawn of the nuclear age,” says Roddy Miller, Sellafield’s operations director. “But because it was a race, not a lot of thought was given to the long-term safe storage of the waste materials that were produced.”

“那是核時代的黎明，”塞拉菲爾德的運營總監(jiān)羅迪·米勒說?！暗驗檫@是一場競賽，所以沒有太多考慮長期安全儲存所產(chǎn)生的廢料?！?/b>

The leaking storage silo, which was built in the 1960s, is just one of the buildings that now has to be emptied so the material inside can go into more modern silos. The building was only ever designed to be filled, and Sellafield says its plans to clear the site and demolish the building are the safest option.

泄漏的儲存庫建于20世紀60年代，只是現(xiàn)在必須清空的建筑物之一，這樣里面的材料才能進入更現(xiàn)代化的儲存庫。這座建筑的設計初衷就是為了填滿，塞拉菲爾德表示，清理場地并拆除這座建筑的計劃是最安全的選擇。

The site’s head of retris, Alyson Armett, points out that without a “permanent solution” for the nuclear waste, the plans to decommission could be delayed.

該基地的回收主管艾莉森·阿蒙特指出，如果沒有核廢料的“永久解決方案”，退役計劃可能會被推遲。

The current plan for that permanent solution is to bury the waste deep underground.

目前的永久解決方案是將廢料深埋地下。

A complicated search – both scientifically and politically - is currently on for somewhere to lock it away from humanity permanently.

一項從科學上和政治上復雜的搜索目前正在尋找一個地方將它永久地與人類隔離開來。

"We need to isolate it from future populations or even civilisations, that’s the timescale we’re looking at," says Prof Corkhill.

考克希爾教授表示：“我們需要將它與未來的人口甚至文明隔離開來，這是我們正在考慮的時間尺度?！?/b>

She studies how radioactive waste material can be made safe for extremely long-term storage, and is searching for the most stable, inert substance that nuclear waste could be "baked into".

她研究如何使放射性廢料在極長時間的儲存中變得安全，并正在尋找最穩(wěn)定的，可以將核廢料“烘烤”進去的惰性物質(zhì)。
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"We turn it into a solid - glass, ceramic or a material that’s just like the rocks that the uranium originally came from," she explains. At Sellafield, the highest level of radioactive waste is stabilised in a similar way before it is stored on-site.

她解釋說：“我們把它變成固體——玻璃、陶瓷或一種材料，就像鈾最初來自的巖石一樣。”在塞拉菲爾德，最高水平的放射性廢物在就地儲存之前以類似的方式穩(wěn)定下來。

The plan for permanent, underground storage is to contain that solid waste in a Russian doll-like series of barriers. The glass, encased in steel, will be shielded in concrete, then buried beneath the Earth‘s own barriers - layers of solid rock.

永久地下儲存的計劃是將固體廢物儲存在俄羅斯套娃般的一系列屏障中。用鋼包裹的玻璃將被混凝土屏蔽，然后被埋在地球自身的屏障——堅固的巖層之下。

The question is, where will that facility be?

問題是，這個設施會建在哪里？
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‘The waste is already here’

“廢料已經(jīng)在這里了”

Six years ago, communities in England and Wales were asked to come forward if they were willing to consider having a disposal facility built near their town or village.

六年前，英格蘭和威爾士的社區(qū)被要求挺身而出，他們是不是愿意考慮在他們的城鎮(zhèn)或村莊附近建立一個處理設施。

Potential sites will need the ideal geology - enough solid rock to create that permanent barrier. However, they also need something that might be more difficult - a willing community.

潛在的地點需要理想的地質(zhì)條件——足夠的固體巖石來形成永久的屏障。然而，他們還需要一些可能更困難的東西——一個自愿的社區(qū)。

There are financial incentives for communities to take part in this discussion. So far, five have come forward. Two have already been ruled out. Allerdale in Cumbria was deemed unsuitable because there was not enough solid bedrock. Then, in September, councillors in South Holderness, in Yorkshire, withdrew after a series of local protests.

社區(qū)參與這一討論是有經(jīng)濟激勵的。到目前為止，已有5個社區(qū)站出來。其中兩個已經(jīng)被排除。坎布里亞郡的阿勒代爾被認為不合適，因為那里沒有足夠的堅固基巖。然后，在9月，在一系列當?shù)乜棺h之后，約克郡南霍爾德內(nèi)斯的市議員們退出了。

Government scientists are assessing the remaining three communities that are currently in the running. Geologists have been carrying out seismic testing - looking for that all-important impermeable rock.

政府的科學家們正在評估目前剩余的3個社區(qū)。地質(zhì)學家一直在進行地震測試，尋找最重要的不透水巖石。

One of the communities being considered is very close to the Sellafield site in West Cumbria, at Seascale.

其中1個正在考慮的社區(qū)非?？拷骺膊祭飦喛さ娜茽柕逻z址。

Local councillor David Moore says the industrial complex is "just down the road, and it’s the biggest employer in the area".

當?shù)刈h員大衛(wèi)·摩爾說，這個工業(yè)綜合體“就在這條路的盡頭，它是該地區(qū)最大的雇主”。

He adds: “I think that’s why conversation here’s different. We’re already the hosts of the waste. And we all want to find it a safer location.

他補充道：“我認為這就是為什么這里的對話不同。我們已經(jīng)是垃圾的主人了。我們都想找個安全點的地方。

"I have seven grandchildren who live in this community, and I want them to live in a safe environment.”

“我有7個孫子孫女住在這個社區(qū)，我希望他們生活在一個安全的環(huán)境中?！?/b>

It is not yet clear if Mid Copeland, the area under consideration that includes Seascale, will have the right rock. The survey and consultation here - and in the other locations being considered - are in their early stages and scheduled to last at least a decade.

目前尚不清楚中科普蘭地區(qū)是否有合適的巖石，該地區(qū)正在考慮包括錫斯凱爾。這里的調(diào)查和咨詢——以及其他正在考慮的地方——都處于早期階段，計劃至少持續(xù)10年。

In the meantime, the conversation goes on and each community being considered for a geological disposal facility (GDF) now receives about ￡1m a year in investment while initial scientific tests are carried out.

與此同時，討論仍在繼續(xù)，每個正在考慮建設地質(zhì)處置設施的社區(qū)現(xiàn)在每年獲得約100萬英鎊的投資，同時進行初步的科學測試。

Mr Moore is part of a committee called a GDF partnership. It includes local residents, local government and representatives of Nuclear Waste Services, which is the government body behind this project.

摩爾先生是地質(zhì)處置設施合作委員會的成員。它包括當?shù)鼐用?、當?shù)卣秃藦U料服務機構(gòu)（該項目背后的政府機構(gòu)）的代表。

These partnerships aim to keep the process transparent and ensure local people are well-informed. They also decide how the money is spent.

這些伙伴關(guān)系旨在保持過程的透明度，并確保當?shù)厝嗣窳私馇闆r。他們還決定如何花錢。

If a GDF is built here, Mr Moore says, there will be billions of pounds invested in the area. “If we're going to host this on behalf of the UK, the community should benefit,” he says.

摩爾表示，如果地質(zhì)處置設施在這里建成，該地區(qū)將獲得數(shù)十億英鎊的投資。他說：“如果我們要代表英國放置這個設施，社區(qū)應該會受益?！?/b>
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Also still on the shortlist are South Copeland, again on the Cumbrian coast, and a site on the east coast in Lincolnshire, where there have been a number of peaceful, but angry, protests.

同樣在候選名單上的還有南科普蘭，也是在坎布里亞海岸，以及林肯郡東海岸的一個地方，那里曾發(fā)生過一些和平但憤怒的抗議活動。

On Halloween 2021 in Theddlethorpe, one of the local villages, several residents used their gardens to put up garish anti-nuclear dump scarecrows, inspired by an idea from pressure group the Guardians of the East Coast, which is campaigning against the disposal facility.

在2021年的萬圣節(jié)，在當?shù)氐囊粋€村莊塞德爾索普，一些居民利用他們的花園放置了華麗的反核垃圾場稻草人，靈感來自東海岸守護者組織的一個想法，該組織正在反對處置設施。
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Ken Smith, from nearby Mablethorpe, is a member of both the campaign group and the local GDF partnership.

肯·史密斯來自附近的梅布爾索普，他既是該活動組織的成員，也是當?shù)氐刭|(zhì)處置設施伙伴關(guān)系的成員。

He thinks the government’s approach to finding a nuclear waste disposal site "stinks".

他認為政府尋找核廢料處理場的方法“很糟糕”。

Mr Smith is concerned that the voices of those most affected might not be heard and says it is unclear how local opinion will be measured at the end of the consultation.

史密斯擔心，那些受影響最嚴重的人的聲音可能不會被聽到，他表示，目前還不清楚在咨詢結(jié)束時，如何衡量當?shù)氐囊庖姟?/b>

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero says a GDF will provide “safe and long-term disposal of the most hazardous radioactive waste”.

能源安全和凈零部表示，地質(zhì)處置設施將提供“最危險的放射性廢物的安全和長期處置”。

Prof Corkhill is convinced that a GDF is the safest solution. “We extract uranium from the rocks in the ground, we get energy from them and [this disposal facility essentially means] they’re returned back to the ground again,” she says.

考克希爾教授相信，地質(zhì)處置設施是最安全的解決方案。她說：“我們從地下的巖石中提取鈾，從中獲得能量，（這個處置設施本質(zhì)上意味著）它們再次被送回地面?！?/b>

“That uranium has been present in those rocks for billions of years. It’s been pushed and pulled, squeezed and heated, exposed to water and air. But the uranium is still safely locked up.”

“鈾已經(jīng)在這些巖石中存在了數(shù)十億年。它被推，被拉，被擠壓，被加熱，暴露在水和空氣中。但是鈾仍然被安全地鎖起來了。”

In the UK, the search, studies and consultations continue. Only when those have been concluded and some kind of final assessment of community support, like a referendum, has taken place will construction of a GDF begin. The earliest that any waste could be put inside it is estimated to be during the 2050s.

在英國，搜索、研究和磋商仍在繼續(xù)。只有當這些工作完成，并對社區(qū)支持進行某種最終評估（比如全民公決）時，地質(zhì)處置設施的建設才會開始。據(jù)估計，最早可以將任何廢物放入其中的時間是在本世紀50年代。

Until then, it will continue to be stored and managed at Sellafield.

在那之前，它將繼續(xù)在塞拉菲爾德儲存和管理。

“We've benefited from nuclear energy in this country for 70 years, but we are still a long way behind cleaning up the legacy that has been left behind,” says Prof Corkhill.

科克希爾教授表示：“70年來，我們一直受益于這個國家的核能，但在清理遺留下來的遺產(chǎn)方面，我們還有很長的路要走。

“When we move to thinking about a new generation of nuclear power, we need to think about the waste now.”

“當我們開始考慮新一代核電時，我們現(xiàn)在就需要考慮核廢料?！?br />