美国国家公共电台 NPR--Young people belonging to the Yakama Nation learn about Hanford's legacy

Young people belonging to the Yakama Nation learn about Hanford's legacy¹

Transcript²

What's now the Hanford radioactive cleanup site in Washington state was long the salmon³-rich territory of native peoples. Now, Yakama Nation youth are touring the site to connect with its legacy.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

It's one of the most contaminated spots on Earth. But long before the U.S. government made plutonium for bombs at the Hanford nuclear site in Washington state, the land belonged to native peoples. Yakama leaders now want young people to know about the area's hunting and fishing legacy and the cleanup burden that lies ahead. The Northwest News Network's Anna King has the story.

ANNA KING, BYLINE⁴: At the eastern edge of Umtanum Ridge⁵ and the curvy outside hip⁶ of the cool Columbia River is a rest stop called Vernita. It's a grassy⁷ oasis⁸ in Washington's dry side.

(SOUNDBITE OF BUS HYDRAULICS HISSING)

KING: About 70 Yakama Nation high school and college age youth get off two tour buses.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: Hello. Hello (laughter).

KING: This is not your typical high school field trip. They've just been on Hanford. That's the nearly 600-square-mile radioactive cleanup site where the government made ultra-secret plutonium during World War II and the Cold War. Reporters weren't allowed on the tribal⁹ tour. I caught up with them at this highway rest stop. Seventeen-year-old Leilani Redheart says this is the first time she's been at the site's sprawling¹⁰ interior.

LEILANI REDHEART: I got to go see the tanks, the reactors¹², all different nine reactors. We got to drive by, and then we obviously got to go in Reactor¹¹ B.

KING: That's the world's first full-scale nuclear reactor. Those tanks are aging and deteriorating¹³ steel and concrete tombs full of radioactive sludge. They hold 56 million gallons of salty, toxic¹⁴ goo. Tribal leaders helped plan this trip for months, along with a Hanford watchdog nonprofit, Columbia Riverkeeper. Phil Rigdon is the superintendent¹⁵ of Yakama Nation's Natural Resources Department.

PHIL RIGDON: For them to see it and to understand, and then also to see what this sacred place - what's happened to it and the devastation¹⁶.

KING: Containing and treating the radioactive waste at the site, which has already cost billions, could end up totaling more than a half trillion dollars. The U.S. government has struggled to execute the cleanup for decades.

The Yakama and other tribes lived here. They sang songs, many of the same ones sung today. The Columbia River sweeps through the site. That's where Native peoples caught salmon. They gathered roots and medicines, conducted ceremonies and buried their dead. But Hanford's construction stopped all that.

Leilani Redheart says after this tour, she feels different.

REDHEART: Not only, you know, knowledge-wise, but it kind of feels closer to my culture, closer to what I grew up knowing and kind of giving me the opportunity to really know what happened.

KING: Eighteen-year-old Jordan Ashue was taken aback by seeing the cocooned¹⁷ reactors and hearing how long the cleanup will take.

JORDAN ASHUE: There's a specific thing where it's, like, 75 years just waiting to, like, make sure that it was good to clear out. What am I? Eighteen - that's going to be, like, 90 years old. This is going to be a while.

KING: Phil Rigdon with Yakama Nation says it's hard to pack in centuries of knowledge in a short tour. But even this small bit of connection, he says, helps the land and the people heal.

RIGDON: If we are able to sing a song, if we are able to be in the land, it knows us, it knows who we are.

KING: That's important, as Hanford's radioactive waste will remain hazardous¹⁸ for generations to come.

For NPR News, I'm Anna King, near Richland, Wash.

1 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 salmon   

n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的

参考例句：

• We saw a salmon jumping in the waterfall there.我们看见一条大马哈鱼在那边瀑布中跳跃。
• Do you have any fresh salmon in at the moment?现在有新鲜大马哈鱼卖吗？

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

6 hip   

n.臀部，髋；屋脊

参考例句：

• The thigh bone is connected to the hip bone.股骨连着髋骨。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line.新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

7 grassy   

adj.盖满草的；长满草的

参考例句：

• They sat and had their lunch on a grassy hillside.他们坐在长满草的山坡上吃午饭。
• Cattle move freely across the grassy plain.牛群自由自在地走过草原。

8 oasis   

n.（沙漠中的）绿洲，宜人的地方

参考例句：

• They stopped for the night at an oasis.他们在沙漠中的绿洲停下来过夜。
• The town was an oasis of prosperity in a desert of poverty.该镇是贫穷荒漠中的一块繁荣的“绿洲”。

9 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

10 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

11 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

12 reactors   

起反应的人( reactor的名词复数 )； 反应装置； 原子炉； 核反应堆

参考例句：

• The TMI nuclear facility has two reactors. 三哩岛核设施有两个反应堆。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• The earliest production reactors necessarily used normal uranium as fuel. 最早为生产用的反应堆，必须使用普通铀作为燃料。

13 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

14 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

15 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

16 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 cocooned   

v.茧，蚕茧( cocoon的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The doctors cocooned the patient in blankets. 医生们将病人紧包在毯子里。 来自辞典例句
• I cocooned in my own kingdom. 我完全沉迷在我自己的王国中。 来自辞典例句

18 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。