Reading Newspaper 5

業界が直面する課題に挑むうえで、電力各社が出資する原電は適役といえる原発づくりは、 地上のなんだかんだに精力を費やすせいか、地中への目配りが十分でなかったようだ。足元の怪しい施設は一つ二つにとどまらず、今さらながら、地震列島に原 発大国を築いたことが悔やまれる。国土を守る、大地主神（おおとこぬしのかみ）の渋面を思う。




With decommissioning hanging over the entire nuclear industry, Japan Atomic Power is in prime position because it is funded by capital from electric power companies themselves. In building nuclear plants, those companies had to take into account local interests. But they apparently failed to pay sufficient attention to what lay underground. Several nuclear power plants are now suspected to be sitting on active faults.
We are belatedly sorry that so many nuclear power plants were built on our highly earthquake-prone archipelago. I can picture the face of Otokonushi-no-kami, the guardian deity of our land, expressing a particularly sour look.

Reading Newspaper 4

日本初の商用炉、東海原発は９８年に発電をやめ、解体作業が進んでいる。敦賀の１ 号機も運転が４０年を超え、先が見えてきた２号機も動かせないのなら、経営の軸足を廃炉ビジネスに移してはどうだろう。一つで少なくとも数百億円、数十 年もの大事業だ。しかも国内だけで膨大な需要が約束されている。


Its reactor at the Tokai nuclear power plant, Japan's first commercial reactor, ceased operation in 1998 and is currently being dismantled. And retirement was looming anyway for the Tsuruga plant's No. 1 reactor, which has now put in more than 40 years of service. If there is no future for the No. 2 reactor either, I would suggest that the company shift its entire business focus to reactor decommissioning. It is a huge project, one which lasts decades and is worth several tens of billions of yen per reactor. And better yet, it is a growth industry in Japan alone.

Reading Newspaper 3

Yes i know, its so boring to read newspapers, and that too a topic related to nuclear power plants. I had an interest in this issue, and saw massive demonstrations here in Japan, now a hot topic for election campaign.




先頃の調査によれ ば、２号機の下にも浦底に連動する活断層があるらしい。原子炉直下とあっては再稼働はかなわず、廃炉となる公算が大きい。存亡の危機に、同社は動揺を隠せ ないだが希望はある。原発の草分け企業は、廃炉でもパイオニアなのだ。


 
A similar survey has also identified a second fault, linked to the Urasoko fault, which could be active, too. This one lies directly beneath the No. 2 reactor building. No nuclear reactor sitting above an active fault can be restarted. The No. 2 reactor will most likely be decommissioned. But this could be a matter of life and death for Japan Atomic Power, which is understandably deeply concerned. There is hope, however. A pioneer in nuclear power generation, the company is also a founding father of the business of decommissioning dead reactors.

Reading Newspaper 2

Continuing the same article as reading exercise,




なにしろ国内初の軽水炉、若狭湾を囲む「原発銀座」の先駆だった。 供え物が足りなかったとは思わないが、鎮めがたい魔物が地に潜んでいた後年、敷地を走る浦底断層が、地震で暴れる活断層と判明する。




The site not only came to house Japan's first light water reactor, it was also the first of many nuclear plants that came to be built near Wakasa Bay.I'm sure Japan Atomic Power didn't stint on the rice and sake. But it now seems that a demon living there was ultimately un-appeasable. The Urasoko fault line runs beneath the plant compound. It is now assessed as an active fault, which could move and wreak havoc during an earthquake








I will first complete posting the whole article, then share the vocabulary.


Source of article is Asahi Shimbun