福島２号機温度計の値上昇についてThe Guardian最新ニュース

'Fukushima reactor readings raise reheating concern:Temperature inside No 2 reactor may have risen to 82C, and Tepco reportedly steps up cooling efforts' by Justin McCurry (12/Feb/2012)から。

福島第一原子力発電所２号機で、原子炉の一部の温度計の値が上昇していることについて、The Guardianの最新ニュースです。

'Concern is growing that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan is no longer stable after temperature readings suggested one of its damaged reactors was reheating.

* temperature readings 温度計読み取り

The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), said the temperature inside No 2 reactor – one of three that suffered meltdown after last year's earthquake and tsunami – may have reached 82C on Sunday.

Tepco said there was no evidence that the melted fuel inside had reached criticality. The utility reportedly increased the amount of cooling water being injected into the reactor along with a boric acid solution, which is used to prevent the fuel from undergoing sustained nuclear reactions.

* melted fuel　溶けた燃料

* reach criticality　臨界に達する

* boric acid ホウ酸

Confirmation that the temperature has risen above 80C could force the government to reverse its declaration two months ago that the crippled plant was in a safe state known as cold shutdown.

* reverse　〜 〜を覆す、無効にする
reverse　its declaration　（政府の冷温停止の）宣言を無効にする

* cold shutdown　冷温停止

Cold shutdown is achieved when the temperature inside the reactors remains below 100C and there is a significant reduction in radiation leaks. Given that Tepco assumes a margin of error of 20C, the actual temperature could have risen to 102C.

* a margin of error of　〜　〜（前後）の誤差

Plant workers are unable to take accurate readings of the temperature inside the damaged reactor because radiation levels are still too high for them to enter and examine the state of the melted fuel, which is thought to be resting at the bottom of the reactor's pressure vessel.

* be resting　休止している　
restの動詞、進行形です。

The result has been a series of wildly different readings: two other thermometers positioned at the bottom of No 2 reactor showed the temperature at 35C, local media reported.

Tepco said it did not know the cause of the apparent temperature rise, but speculated that it might be due to problems with the supply of coolant or a faulty thermometer.

* a faulty thermometer　温度計の故障

"We believe the state of cold shutdown is being maintained," said Junichi Matsumoto, a company spokesman. ”Rather than the actual temperature rising, we believe there is high possibility that the thermometer concerned is displaying erroneous data."

* erroneous data　間違ったデータ

Tepco was forced to inject additional cooling water into the same reactor last week after the temperature started rising at the beginning of the month.'