原来，美国也发生过“切尔诺贝利”事件？！许多居民患了怪病

HBO今年5月热播的迷你剧《切尔诺贝利》(Chernobyl)用它的“真实感”再现了令人毛骨悚然的核威力 。不过，就在切尔诺贝利核电站禁区辐射剂量逐渐减少，禁区逐步开放成为旅游圣地之时，美国南加州洛杉矶近郊的西米谷(Simi Valley)， 60年前也发生过一起核事故——它的清理工作却尚未开始，时至今日还在持续威胁着当地居民的健康……

(图 via VC Star)

当地时间7月13日上午10点，当地居民、活动家和政府官员聚集在西米谷的Rancho Tapo社区公园，举行了一场纪念活动，纪念发生在1959年的圣苏珊娜核武器试验场(Santa Susana Field Lab)的核灾难。

The 2,850-acre field lab in unincorporated hills just southeast of Simi Valley experienced a partial nuclear meltdown in 1959 when it was the Rocketdyne/Atomics International rocket engine test and nuclear facility, and other chemical and radioactive contamination over the years.

这座占地2850英亩的野外试验场，位于西米谷东南方向未建制的丘陵地带，1959年经历了一次核反应堆堆芯的部分熔毁，当时这座试验场是洛克达因公司/原子能国际火箭发动机试验场和核反应堆试验场，多年来试验场还受到了其他化学和放射性污染。

▲Activists to mark 60th anniversary of partial nuclear meltdown at Santa Susana Field Lab (via VC Star)

1959年7月13日，圣苏珊娜核武器试验场发生核反应堆部分熔融事件，产生的污染使得该区域至今仍是美国遭受污染最严重的区域。

The Sodium Reactor Experiment or SRE was the first reactor to provide commercial nuclear power to a U.S. city in Moorpark. Then on July 13, 1959, a partial meltdown occurred in which a third of the fuel experienced melting.

钠冷-石墨慢化热中子反应堆是第一个为美国墨尔帕克市提供商用核能的反应堆。随后在1959年7月13日，反应堆发生了部分融毁：三分之一的燃料发生了熔融。

As a result of this partial meltdown and numerous other reactor accidents, radioactive fires, massive chemical contamination in handling of the radioactive and chemically contaminated toxic materials that were routinely burned in open pits through the years at the site, it remains one of the most highly contaminated sites in the country.

这次的部分熔毁和许多其他反应堆事故，加之该试验场长年以来，露天燃烧处理放射性和化学污染的有毒物质，产生了放射性大火和大量化学污染物，使得该区域仍然是美国受污染最严重的区域之一。

▲60Years Since the Largest U.S. Nuclear Accident and Captured Federal Agencies(via Common Dreams)

1958年，圣苏珊娜核武器试验场核反应堆(图 via Common Dreams)

如今，这个试验场由波音公司、美国能源部和NASA共同负责清理。但清理工作却一拖再拖，尚未执行。

The site is now largely owned by aerospace giant Boeing and is divided into four areas plus northern and southern buffer zones.

这座试验场现在主要为航空巨头波音公司所有，分为四个区域，外加北部和南部缓冲区。

Boeing is responsible for cleaning up Area 3, its part of Area 1 and the Southern Buffer Zone. NASA administers a smaller portion of the site and is responsible for remediating Area 2 and its part of Area 1. The U.S. Department of Energy doesn’t own any land at the site, but is responsible for cleaning up Area 4 and the Northern Buffer Zone.

波音公司负责清理3号区域、部分1号区域和南部缓冲区。NASA管理着一小部分试验场，负责修复2号区域和部分1号区域。美国能源部在该试验场不拥有任何土地，但负责清理第4区和北部缓冲区。

The long-planned, much-delayed cleanup could finally start this year, Russ Edmondson, a spokesman for the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, which is overseeing the remediation, said late last year. In April, however, he appeared to back off that statement.

负责监督整治工作的加州有毒物质控制局发言人拉斯⋅埃德蒙森去年年底表示，这项计划已久、拖延已久的清理工作可能最终会在今年启动。然而，今年4月，他似乎收回了这一说法。

▲Activists to mark 60th anniversary of partial nuclear meltdown at Santa Susana Field Lab (via VC Star)

圣苏珊娜核武器试验场火箭发动机试验台(图 via dailynews.com)

尽管试验场曾经发生了核事故，清理工作工作也仍未开始，但距离洛杉矶市中心25英里的这个试验场，方圆10英里的范围内却居住着大约50万居民。严重的污染，对当地居民的健康造成了严重的影响。许多居民罹患一些罕见的疾病。

These toxins are associated with a multitude of health risks. Many are cancer causing, others are neurotoxins causing a host of issues including learning disabilities, birth defects and many other health effects. The most vulnerable tend to be women and children.

这些毒素与许多健康风险有关。许多是引发癌症的，其他的是神经毒素导致的一系列问题，包括学习障碍，出生缺陷和许多其他健康影响的症状。最易患病的往往是妇女和儿童。

In 2006, a cluster of retinoblastoma cases, a rare eye cancer affecting young children, was identified within an area downwind of the site. The retinoblastoma mothers meeting at Los Angeles's Children's Hospital ultimately formed a chemo carpool.

2006年，多个视网膜母细胞瘤病例(一种影响儿童的罕见眼癌)在该区域的下风口区域被发现。视网膜母细胞瘤患儿的母亲聚集到了洛杉矶儿童医院，最终这些患儿集体接受了化疗。

The Public Health Institute's 2012 California Breast Cancer Mapping Project found that the rate of breast cancer is higher in Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Oak Park and Moorpark than in almost any other place in the state.

Public Health Institute2012年的加州乳腺癌地图项目发现，千橡市、西米谷、橡树园和墨尔帕克市的乳腺癌发病率几乎高于加州其他任何地方。

In addition, studies by cancer registries found elevated rates of bladder cancer associated with proximity to SSFL.

此外，癌症登记处的研究发现，(该地区)膀胱癌的发病率升高与邻近圣苏珊娜核武器试验场有关。

▲60Years Since the Largest U.S. Nuclear Accident and Captured Federal Agencies(via Common Dreams)

此外，这些有毒物质并不会停留在这个区域，而是随着下雨、刮风或者火灾等扩散至其他区域。

The 2017 Woolsey fire is a most recent example. After initially denials, officials finally admitted the fire actually started on the field lab site burning across almost the entire site and potentially spreading toxic chemicals over the basin.

2017年的伍尔西山火是最近的一个例子。在最初的否认之后，当地官员最终承认，火灾实际上最初发生在试验场，并蔓延至整个区域，并有可能将有毒化学物质扩散到盆地。

▲60Years Since the Largest U.S. Nuclear Accident and Captured Federal Agencies(via Common Dreams)

而由美国核试验对环境造成污染和对人类健康造成影响的，还远不止这一处。

(图 via Maps4news.com)

二战期间，美国曾占领马绍尔群岛(Marshall Islands)。直到上世纪70年代末，马绍尔群岛一直是美国领土。马绍尔群岛目前是一个独立的国家，但与美国签订了自由联盟协议(Compact of Free Association)。

据美国多家媒体报道，最新的一项研究表明，美国冷战期间在太平洋马绍尔群岛进行的67次核试验，产生的核辐射剂量，比切尔诺贝利和福岛核电站事故造成的核辐射量还要高。

From 1946 to 1958, the US government conducted 67 nuclear tests on several small islands -- called atolls -- in the Marshall Islands.

1946年至1958年，美国政府在马绍尔群岛的几个小岛上进行了67次核试验，这些小岛被称为环礁。

More than 60 years later, researchers at Columbia University say radiation on four of these atolls remains alarmingly high -- in some areas ten to 1,000 times higher than radioactive areas near the Chernobyl powerplant, which exploded in 1986, and Fukushima, where an earthquake and tsunami caused a nuclear disaster in 2011.

60多年后，哥伦比亚大学的研究人员说，辐射在其中四个环礁上仍然高得惊人——在一些区域，辐射量比1986年爆炸的切尔诺贝利核电站附近的辐射量，以及2011年地震和海啸引起的福岛核灾难的辐射，还要高10到1000倍。

Bikini Island was found to have the highest levels of radiation of areas studied, with the report's authors recommending that Bikini remains uninhabited, owing to its high levels of radiation.

研究发现，比基尼岛是研究区域中辐射水平最高的，报告的作者们建议，由于其辐射水平高，比基尼岛仍不宜居住。

▲Parts of the Marshall Islands are more radioactive than Chernobyl and Fukushima, study finds (via CNN)

比基尼环礁水下原子弹爆炸(图 via CNN)

对于核试验对环境和人类造成的不良影响仍在持续，您怎么看?欢迎留言并分享你的观点!

整合：Du Qiongfang

资料：VC Star, Common Dreams, CNN

图/题图：VC Star, Common Dreams, CNN, dailynews.com, Maps4news.com