VOA标准英语2008年-US Takes Steps to Prepare for Potential Nuclear

The United States has begun preparing for the possibility that a terrorist could detonate a nuclear device in a major American city. U.S. officials appeared before a Senate panel Thursday to discuss the effort. VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.

The Senate Homeland and Governmental Affairs Committee heard sobering testimony¹ about the impact of a nuclear attack on the United States.

Senator Joe Lieberman, who calls himself an independent Democrat², is committee chairman:

"A nuclear attack on our homeland would be sudden and swift. It would be devastating³ and deadly. Failure to develop and test a comprehensive plan for dealing⁴ with the aftermath would only magnify its impact," he noted⁵.

U.S. authorities began preparing for such a scenario⁶ following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Assistant Health and Human Services Secretary for Preparedness and Response Craig Vanderwagen says the detonation⁷ of an improvised⁸ nuclear device (IND) would be one of the most catastrophic events the United States could endure.

"An IND would kill, indeed, tens of thousands of individuals with blast, burn, and traumatic effects, not to mention radiation," he noted.

Vanderwagen says there would be many thousands more victims with injuries and radiation sickness. He says healthcare facilities have begun taking steps to prepare for the possibility of such a situation.

"If we look back on 2002, there was a very limited infrastructure⁹ for integrated mass care," he explained. "Now we have 87 percent of all U.S. hospitals participating in the program that would bring about mass care. As far as decontamination goes, two-thirds of the hospitals in 2002 reported that they really did not have any ability to decontaminate people effectively, and now we have the ability to decontaminate over 400,000 people within three hours on a nationwide basis."

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator¹⁰ David Paulison says federal funds have gone to communities across the nation to help train emergency personnel.

"State and local governments have received $23 billion in preparedness grants to build all-hazardous capabilities¹¹. In the past four years alone, fully¹² $350 million in Department of Homeland Security grant programs have been invested in projects related to radiological and nuclear preparedness as well as decontamination," he said.

Paulison says his agency is planning a national exercise in 2010 to respond to a scenario in which a 10-kiloton nuclear device is detonated.

Assistant Defense¹³ Secretary for Homeland Defense Paul McHale says the Pentagon is doing its part to train rapid response teams.

"We will have 20,000d military personnel prepared for the primary mission of domestic, catastrophic response. These are capabilities that did not exist on September 11," he added.

The hearing was the latest in a series on the potential for a nuclear attack on U.S. soil. Senator Lieberman says his committee plans another hearing later this year that will focus on the steps the federal government has taken to prevent such an attack.

1 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

2 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

3 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

4 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

7 detonation   

n.爆炸；巨响

参考例句：

• A fearful detonation burst forth on the barricade.街垒传来一阵骇人的爆炸声。
• Within a few hundreds of microseconds,detonation is complete.在几百微秒之内，爆炸便完成了。

8 improvised   

a.即席而作的,即兴的

参考例句：

• He improvised a song about the football team's victory. 他即席创作了一首足球队胜利之歌。
• We improvised a tent out of two blankets and some long poles. 我们用两条毛毯和几根长竿搭成一个临时帐蓬。

9 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

10 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

11 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

12 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

13 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。