福島縣讓這些爺爺奶奶變成了熱心的輻射檢測員

福島縣讓這些爺爺奶奶變成了熱心的輻射檢測員

Takenori Kobayashi (left) and his wife Tomoko Kobayashi bring soil samples into what they refer to as a "grandma and grandpa lab" to test it for radiation, in Fukushima prefecture, Japan.

在日本福島縣，小林武彥(左)和他的妻子小林智子帶著土壤樣本進入他們稱之為“奶奶和爺爺實驗室”的地方測試輻射。

Takenori Kobayashi lugs a garbage bag full of soil across a parking lot to an unmarked office. His wife, Tomoko, holds the door to a tiny work space with lab equipment and computers set up. On the edge of Fukushima's former nuclear exclusion zone, this is the place the couple likes to call their "grandma and grandpa lab."

小林武彥拖著裝滿土壤的垃圾袋穿過停車場，來到一間沒有標識的辦公室。他的妻子智子扶著門，來到一個布置了實驗室設備和電腦的小工作空間。這里位于福島前核禁區(qū)的邊緣，這對夫婦喜歡把這里稱為他們的“奶奶和爺爺?shù)膶嶒炇?rdquo;。

It started as a makeshift operation in the city of Minamisoma the year after the 2011 nuclear disaster, when people — mostly elderly — returned to the area and were worried about high radiation levels in their food and soil.

2011年核災難發(fā)生后的第二年，南相馬市開始了一次臨時行動，當時人們——大部分是老年人——返回該地區(qū)，擔心他們的食物和土壤中的高輻射水平。

"We've given up hope that our children and grandchildren will come back to live here," Tomoko, 67, says. Most young people decided to start lives elsewhere rather than return, not wanting to take the risks with radiation. "But in order for them to come back and visit us," she continues, "we need to know everything is safe. So we test it all."

67歲的智子說：“我們已經(jīng)放棄了讓我們的子孫后代回到這里生活的希望。”大多數(shù)年輕人決定從別處開始生活，而不是返回，因為他們不想冒輻射的風險。”但為了讓他們回來探望我們，“她繼續(xù)說，”我們需要知道一切都是安全的。所以我們都要測試一下。”

Citizen science like this flourished in Fukushima after the nuclear disaster in 2011, when a tsunami triggered explosions at the Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The wind carried radioactive material for miles, covering whole towns and neighborhoods with dangerous, yet invisible, particles.

2011年福島核災難發(fā)生后，這樣的公民科學在福島盛行起來，當時海嘯引發(fā)了第一核電站的爆炸。風把放射性物質(zhì)吹了幾英里遠，帶著危險卻看不見的微粒，覆蓋了整個城鎮(zhèn)和社區(qū)。

For weeks after the disaster, information was scarce and trust in the Japanese government plummeted. And now, almost a decade later, wide arrays of residents have taken it upon themselves to collect radiation data — from mothers worried about their kids to surfers monitoring beaches to individuals with Geiger counters in their homes — to help regain a sense of control.

災難發(fā)生后的幾周內(nèi)，信息匱乏，人們對日本政府的信任急劇下降?，F(xiàn)在，將近十年過去了，大量的居民開始自行收集輻射數(shù)據(jù)——從擔心孩子的母親到監(jiān)控海灘的沖水者，再到在家中安裝蓋革計數(shù)器的個人——以幫助重新獲得控制感。

Inside the lab, the Kobayashis pair get to work. One measures out soil into small containers, the other starts labeling — so coordinated and practiced, it's almost like a dance. They put the samples through a donated gamma counter, a big cylindrical machine that measures radioactive particles. Today, they're testing soil from a nearby farm.

在實驗室里，小林夫婦開始工作。一個把土壤測量后放到小容器里，另一個開始標記——如此協(xié)調(diào)和熟練，幾乎像一種舞蹈。他們將樣本放入一個捐贈的伽馬計數(shù)器中，這是一個測量放射性粒子的大圓柱形機器。今天，他們正在測試附近農(nóng)場的土壤。

A handful of other residents help run the lab, and throughout the years, experts from nearby universities have come to teach them all about the different equipment and radiation science.

其他一些居民幫助運營實驗室，多年來，附近大學的專家一直來這里教他們不同的設備和輻射科學。

"All the grandparents here are radiation professionals now," Takenori, 71, says with a smile.

71歲的武彥微笑著說:“現(xiàn)在這里的爺爺奶奶都是輻射專業(yè)人士。”

Before the disaster, he was an accountant, and Tomoko helped run a nearby inn that has been in her family for generations. When the disaster happened, they were forced to evacuate for five years. But when they were allowed to come back home in 2016, they reopened the inn — and learned everything they could about radiation.

在災難發(fā)生之前，他是一名會計，智子幫忙經(jīng)營了附近一家世代相傳的旅館。災難發(fā)生時，他們被迫撤離5年。但是當他們在2016年被允許回到家鄉(xiāng)時，他們重新開張了這家旅館，并且學習了關于輻射的一切知識。

"We never thought we'd be doing this. What normal person would expect this?" says Tomoko with a chuckle. "But anyone who faces this kind of situation has to become a scientist to survive."

“我們從沒想過我們會這樣做。正常的人會怎么想呢?”智子笑著說。“但任何面臨這種情況的人都必須成為科學家才能生存。”