VOA Special English News 9

Japanese officials said highly radioactive plutonium has been found in the soil in five places around the damaged nuclear station. Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear station in Japan also say highly radioactive water has been found outside the damaged station. Tokyo Electric Power Company, which operates the station, said that it does not believe radiation levels are high enough to be a risk to human health. Earlier on Monday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said he suspects a partial meltdown is causing the water leak. He says the government's main goal is to stop the poison water getting into the ground water system.

（日本語訳）

破損した原子力発電所付近の５箇所の土壌から、高放射性のプルトニウムが検出されたと、日本政府高官が発表した。福島第一原子力発電所の作業員によると、高い放射性の水が破損した原子炉の外で発見された。原子力発電所を稼動させている東京電力は、放射性のレベルは、健康に被害を及ぼすほど高いものではないと考えている。月曜日の早い時点の発表では、枝野幸男官房長官は部分的なメルトダウンが水漏れの原因ではないか、また、政府の主な目標は、放射性物質が地下水システム入りことを阻止することだと言っている。

Liner PCM recorder

Recently, I have got a liner PCM recorder. Its main purpose was to record several music performed by my son's brass band in their annual concert that was held on March 20. The "PCM" means "pulse code modulation". By using this device, I can record music in very good quality. It is said that recorded sound equals to one of "music CD".

I recorded several music in that concert and now I am satisfied with the device's performance.

VOA Special English News 8

Japanese media say electric power is flowing into two severely damaged nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power station. Defense minister Toshimi Kitazawa says temperature of the storage pools at all six reactors at the station are below one hundred degrees Celsius. Also, workers have placed two other reactors into cold shutdown with their cooling systems under control. The rise in pressure has been reported in another reactor, however.

Prime minister Naoto Kan will visit an area twenty kilometers from nuclear power center on Monday. Also chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano said Sunday the power station was too damage to ever be repaired. Sunday night, Japanese police said more than twenty one thousand people have died in March eleventh earthquake and tsunami.

original news

（日本語訳）

福島第一原子力発電所内の二つの、ひどく破損した原子炉に電力が供給されている、日本のメディアは報じた。北澤俊美防衛大臣は、発電所内の６つすべての原子炉の貯蔵プールの温度は100℃を下回っていると言っている。また、作業員は、他の二つの原子炉を管理下にある冷却システムを伴った、「シャットダウン」に置いている。しかしながら、もうひとつの原子炉では圧力の上昇が報告されている。菅直人首相は、月曜日、原子力発電所から20キロ離れた地域の訪問を予定している。また、枝野幸男官房長官は、原子力発電所は、破損がひどく、復旧はできないと言った。日曜日の夜、日本の警察は、3月11日の地震と津波で2万1千人以上が亡くなったと発表した。

* additional information about this news

PM. Naoto Kan had canceled a visit to the area because of bad weather.

magic of greeting "aisatsu no mahou"

Now, many Japanese businesses have limited their commercial films because of the terrible disaster. Instead, we can often see this short program made by the AC. I like this, but I have heard that some people dislike it and complain about it to TV stations saying that it is uncomfortable.

VOA Special English News ７

The Japanese government is sending doctors and supplies to thousand of people without food, water and shelter. The action comes four days after an earthquake and tsunami struck north east Japan.

At same time, fears of nuclear disaster are spreading in the nation. United nation's official told VOA Tuesday, that she has not seen a crisis like this before. Television pictures from the Japanese city of Sendai show people standing in lines for water and food. Some stores are limiting how much an individual can buy. People in Koriyama have fled Fukushima area where nuclear power center is leaking radiation.

Workers at power center in Fukushima are working to cool down nuclear reactors. Reactors are threatening to release dangerous amounts of radiation. Fifty workers at Japan's and badly damaged Fukushima nuclear energy center have remained on the jobs in an effort to prevent a more severe radiation leak.

Fifty are dressed in a protective clothing.Radiation in the center has already reached to levels harmful to human health. Workers are trying to put water into the nuclear reactors. The center's cooling system failed after Friday's powerful earthquake struck Honshu island. Expert say a meltdown of complete failure of nuclear center could release several kinds of radioactive substances into the atmosphere.

（日本語訳）

日本政府は、地震と津波が東日本を襲った４日後になって、食料、水、避難所がない人たちに医師や物資を送っている。

同じ時期、放射線災害の恐怖が広がっている。ある国連職員は、これまで、こんな災害は見たことがないと、火曜日、VOAに語った。

あるテレビ番組は、人々が水や食料のため、行列をつくっている仙台市の様子を流した。商店では、一人の客が買える量を制限している。郡山市の人は、原子力発電所が放射線を漏らしている福島地域から避難している。

発電所の作業員は、核融合炉を冷却するための作業を行っている。核融合炉では、危険な量の放射線が漏れ出す恐れが出ている。５０人の作業員が原子力発電所に残り、さらに放射能漏れがひどい状態にならないように作業をしている。

５０人の作業員は、防護服を着用している。発電所内の放射能レベルはすでに人体に影響を及ぼすレベルに達している。作業員は、水を核融合炉に入れようとしている。核融合炉の冷却システムは、巨大地震が本州を襲ったあとから作動しなくなっている。専門家によると、原子力発電所が完全に破損したことによるメルトダウンは、大気中に様々な放射線物質を放出するだろうと言っている。

newspaper extra

Today is Sunday, so usually we could not see evening version of newspaper. But, "newspaper extra"（号外） was delivered at today's evening. It tells about the nuclear power station's inability to cool the system in its top news.

huge earthquake and tsunami hit Japan

Last Friday, the huge earthquake struck near the east coast of Honshu, Japan's main island. And several huge tsunamis after it heavily broke many rural towns in the area. This photo shows Asahi's headlines of this two days. These mean "terrible disaster by earthquake in the eastern Japan, and huge tsunami","explosion in the nuclear power station in Fukushima (prefecture)".

But, my life does not deffer from normal because there are no disasters from it in Kyushu island where I live. Kyushu is more than 1000km far from the area. In this three days, I have only watched TV programs that have reported the extent of the disaster.

Before the earthquake, prime minister Kan was struggling to run his cabinet well because of several political problems. But these terrible disasters might give him a good chance to continue his political status.

collective bargaining rights

Recently, I have learned a new English term through VOA Special English program. It is "collective bargaining rights".

I could not imagine what it does mean from the sound when I first heard it. I learned its meaning after using dictionary. It sounds very "fresh" to me because it does not seem to include any words relative to labor.

Generally, it is translated into "dantai kousyou ken"（団体交渉権） in Japanese. I might have translated the Japanese word into "negotiating rights of labor union" in English if I do not learn "collective bargaining rights".