Energy in Japan

　　日本能源問題

　　THE corridors were dark, the air uncomfortably hot.The lights at the headquarters of the Tokyo ElectricPower Company were largely switched off; the air-conditioners were turned down. Eventhe chief executive, Toshio Nishizawa, had removed his tie for an interview on September 5th.In normal times, that would be a glaring breach of Japanese corporate etiquette, but theseare not normal times.

　　走廊伸手不見十指，空氣燥熱難忍。東京電力總部，幾乎沒幾盞燈亮著，空調(diào)冷氣也已調(diào)小。9月5日接受采訪時，東電首席執(zhí)行官Toshio Nishizawa甚至都未系領帶。這要放在平時，顯然就是公然違背日本公司禮儀。但如今絕非平時。

　　Since the earthquake and tsunami of March 11th, most nuclear reactors in Japan have beenshut down for maintenance and not restarted: 43 out of 54 remain idle. There has been anational drive for setsuden . TEPCO must be seen to share the pain.

　　3月11日地震海嘯襲來，日本大部分核反應堆都因維護原因關停，尚未重啟使用，54座反應堆中有43座仍然閑置。日本全國上下曾掀起能源節(jié)約熱潮，東電必須做出樣子，有所分擔。

　　The company is staggeringly unpopular. One of its nuclear plants at Fukushima was damagedon March 11th. In the crucial hours after the tsunami, TEPCO failed to add water to cool thereactor cores. It was unable to restore steady back-up power until days later and inexplicablydelayed venting a build-up of pressure that eventually led to hydrogen explosions.

　　如今，東電極不受待見。3月11日的災難中，東電在福島的一座核電站被毀。海嘯退去關鍵的幾個小時內(nèi)，東電未能向反應堆核心注水降溫。而且直到災難爆發(fā)數(shù)天之后，東電才恢復穩(wěn)定的備用電源。再者，東電遲遲未釋放反應堆內(nèi)激增的巨大壓力，最終導致了氫爆炸，真叫人無法理解。

　　As if that were not bad enough, TEPCO withheld information from everyone, including the thenprime minister, Naoto Kan, who stormed into its headquarters yelling: What the hell is goingon? A meltdown began several hours after the tsunami struck, but wasnt officially discloseduntil nine weeks later. We have lost trust, admits Mr Nishizawa. Regaining it will take a long,long time, he adds.

　　東電貌似覺得這還不夠慘，竟而還對外封鎖消息，連時任首相菅直人都被蒙在鼓里，菅直人沖進東電總部吼道：到底怎么回事?海嘯來襲數(shù)小時之后，反應堆爐心就已融毀，但直到9個禮拜后東電才正式披露消息。Toshio Nishizawa也承認東電已失去公眾信任，并表示重獲信任，絕不是一朝一夕的事情。

　　Asked whether the reactor was damaged by thequake itself , Mr Nishizawa says it is unclear: we mustwait for a report in November. This question matters.If the reactors in quake-prone Japan are not quake-proof, nuclear power may not be safe. An official at anuclear regulator says there is evidence that thequake did indeed damage the reactor.

　　對于地震是否為摧毀反應堆元兇這個問題，Toshio Nishizawa的回答是不清楚，說要等到11月報告出臺后，方才清楚。地震是不是元兇這個問題至關重要。日本這么一個地震頻發(fā)的國家，倘若反應堆不抗震，那么核能也許就不安全。核能監(jiān)管部門的一名官員表示，有證據(jù)表明的確是地震摧毀了反應堆。

　　Since the disaster, Japanese people have made heroic efforts to save energy. Householdssnuffed out lights and unplugged their heated toilet seats. Big companies reduced their energyuse by 15% . Many began the workday earlier or switched to night shifts. Thecar industry took Thursdays and Fridays off and toiled at weekends, when electricity demand islower. In TEPCOs region , peak usage fell to 49 gigawatts, from 60 gigawattslast year. Everyone expected blackouts; none occurred. On September 9th, as the summersheat faded, the government announced an end to setsuden.

　　災難過后,日本民眾做出巨大努力節(jié)省能源。家家戶戶熄掉電燈，關掉便桶加熱器。大公司紛紛砍掉了15%的能耗。不少日本人要么工作日早早起床工作，要么轉(zhuǎn)而倒夜班。由于周末電力需求不那么緊張，汽車工業(yè)周四周五停工，周六周日苦干。今年，東電轄區(qū)的高峰用電量從去年同期的60千兆瓦下降到49千兆瓦。人人都做好了大面積停電的準備，卻多慮了。9月9日，鑒于酷暑散去，日本政府宣布能源節(jié)約告一段落。

　　Yet Japans energy problems are far from resolved. If the nuclear freeze lasts for a year, it willcut GDP by an estimated 3.6% and destroy almost 200,000 jobs. Meanwhile, three-fifths of thepublic say they have little confidence in nuclear power.

　　然而，日本能源危機還遠遠沒有解決。倘若到明年3月，核能仍未能重啟的話，預計，GDP將會因此下滑3.6%，20萬工作崗位也會隨之灰飛煙滅。與此同時，3/5的民眾對核能沒什么信心。

　　Japan needs a robust and diverse energy industry. Instead it has ten regional monopolies, which hog 97% of the market for electricity generation and transmission.Residential consumers pay nearly twice as much as Americans and three times as much asSouth Koreans . After modest deregulation began for big commercial users adecade ago, prices plummeted by 16% between 1999 and 2005. Yet lacking political support,the reforms went into reverse.

　　日本需要一個強勁而又多元化的能源產(chǎn)業(yè)。但事與愿違，卻崛起了10家區(qū)域壟斷電力集團，他們把持著全國97%的發(fā)電輸電市場份額。日本家庭用戶上繳的電費幾乎是美國人的2倍，韓國人的3倍。十年前，政府開始實施針對大型商業(yè)用戶的供電適度寬松政策，使得電價在1999到2005年間下滑了16%。然而由于缺少政治支持，供電改革走上回頭路。

　　Electricity prices are high because the monopolieshave little incentive to cut costs. On the contrary,their profit margins are fixed by the government, soif they inflate their costs, they boost their income.At the same time, the utilities charge residentialconsumers a flat rate, giving them no incentive torun appliances during off-peak hours. Alternativeenergy gets short shrift. Although Japanese firmsare leaders in green technologies such as wind, solarand geothermal, these sources account for only 1%of all power generation.

　　電價高昂是因為壟斷商們沒什么理由削減成本。而恰恰相反，由于政府規(guī)定死了電力公司的利潤率，所以他們一旦抬高成本，盈利就會隨之增加。同時電力公司按時計價收取家庭用戶電費，因此，即使是非高峰時段，用戶也沒理由狂用家電。替代能源也不受待見。雖說日本企業(yè)在風能，太陽能和地熱能等綠色能源產(chǎn)業(yè)上處于領先地位，但綠色能源發(fā)電也只占總發(fā)電量的 1%。

　　TEPCOs influence is vast. It supports politicians from one party; its union supports their rivals.It finances academic research on energy. It takes hacks on junkets. And last year it spent ?26billion on advertising and promotiona fortune for a firm with no seriouscompetitors.

　　東電有著巨大的影響力。集團支持一黨政客，工會則支持他們的競爭對手。東電為學術能源研究買單,并且資助低層官員公費旅游。去年，東電又花費260億日元做宣傳，打廣告。沒有強勁競爭對手的東電卻耗費了這么一筆巨款。

　　Reformers urge the break-up of Japans power monopolies. Separating generation fromtransmission and opening the door to new entrants would raise efficiency and reduce costs.However, Keidanren, the lobby for big business, opposes deregulation on the ground thatTEPCO and its ilk ensure a stable supply of electricity. Several Keidanren members sell partsand services to the power monopolies, and receive steep discounts on the power they use.

　　革新人士敦促打日本打破能源壟斷局勢。發(fā)電與輸電分開經(jīng)營，打開大門歡迎新成員入駐電力產(chǎn)業(yè)，都能提高效率并降低成本。然而，大企業(yè)游說團體卻反對放寬管制，他們的理由是東電及其同行能夠確保供電穩(wěn)定。Keidanren的幾個會員是電力壟斷集團的零件及服務供給商，同時他們也享受著巨大的電價折扣。

　　Many politicians believe that TEPCO must be preserved so it can compensate the victims ofthe nuclear accident at Fukushima. A law governing compensation was approved by the Dieton August 3rd. It creates a mechanism to collect funds from TEPCO and other power firmsbut fails to specify how the costs will be shared. On September 12th TEPCO sent out forms forevacuees to fill in. These are 60 pages long.

　　不少政客認為東電不能倒臺，因為福島核事故受害者還等著她賠償呢。日本議會于8月3日通過了賠償法案，該法案提出向東電及其它電力公司籌資，但卻未指明各方承擔多少賠償份額。9月12日，東電分發(fā)表格供撤離人員填寫，這些表格長達60頁。

　　The new government of Yoshihiko Noda wants to reduce Japans reliance on nuclear power inthe medium term, but hopes to restart idle reactors in the meantime. Without cheap, reliablepower, businesses may move abroad.

　　野田佳彥新政府打算在中期時間之內(nèi)，降低日本對核能的依賴，但同時，他們也希望重啟閑置反應堆。如若沒有廉價可靠的電力供應，許多企業(yè)可能會遷往國外。

　　New firms are clamouring to enter the energy business. Masayoshi Son, a wireless tycoon, plansto build huge solar-power stations and a new grid to connect Japanese prefectures. But theregulatory process is a nightmare, he says. A new law on green energy gives few clues as tohow new producers can sell power to the grid, or whether the incumbents have to buy it. Noteven an earthquake, it seems, can shake the monopolists grip.

　　新企業(yè)吵著要開進能源產(chǎn)業(yè)。無線巨頭Masayoshi Son打算興建大型太陽能發(fā)電站，并計劃新開通一條輸電網(wǎng)，連通日本各縣。但他表示，規(guī)章程序好比噩夢一場。新出臺的綠色能源法案幾乎未說明，新發(fā)電商通過何種渠道向電網(wǎng)出售電力，也未說明現(xiàn)在的電力供應企業(yè)是否要購買新能源電力。似乎即便是地震也無法撼動壟斷集團的鐵爪。

　　Energy in Japan

　　日本能源問題

　　THE corridors were dark, the air uncomfortably hot.The lights at the headquarters of the Tokyo ElectricPower Company were largely switched off; the air-conditioners were turned down. Eventhe chief executive, Toshio Nishizawa, had removed his tie for an interview on September 5th.In normal times, that would be a glaring breach of Japanese corporate etiquette, but theseare not normal times.

　　走廊伸手不見十指，空氣燥熱難忍。東京電力總部，幾乎沒幾盞燈亮著，空調(diào)冷氣也已調(diào)小。9月5日接受采訪時，東電首席執(zhí)行官Toshio Nishizawa甚至都未系領帶。這要放在平時，顯然就是公然違背日本公司禮儀。但如今絕非平時。

　　Since the earthquake and tsunami of March 11th, most nuclear reactors in Japan have beenshut down for maintenance and not restarted: 43 out of 54 remain idle. There has been anational drive for setsuden . TEPCO must be seen to share the pain.

　　3月11日地震海嘯襲來，日本大部分核反應堆都因維護原因關停，尚未重啟使用，54座反應堆中有43座仍然閑置。日本全國上下曾掀起能源節(jié)約熱潮，東電必須做出樣子，有所分擔。

　　The company is staggeringly unpopular. One of its nuclear plants at Fukushima was damagedon March 11th. In the crucial hours after the tsunami, TEPCO failed to add water to cool thereactor cores. It was unable to restore steady back-up power until days later and inexplicablydelayed venting a build-up of pressure that eventually led to hydrogen explosions.

　　如今，東電極不受待見。3月11日的災難中，東電在福島的一座核電站被毀。海嘯退去關鍵的幾個小時內(nèi)，東電未能向反應堆核心注水降溫。而且直到災難爆發(fā)數(shù)天之后，東電才恢復穩(wěn)定的備用電源。再者，東電遲遲未釋放反應堆內(nèi)激增的巨大壓力，最終導致了氫爆炸，真叫人無法理解。

　　As if that were not bad enough, TEPCO withheld information from everyone, including the thenprime minister, Naoto Kan, who stormed into its headquarters yelling: What the hell is goingon? A meltdown began several hours after the tsunami struck, but wasnt officially discloseduntil nine weeks later. We have lost trust, admits Mr Nishizawa. Regaining it will take a long,long time, he adds.

　　東電貌似覺得這還不夠慘，竟而還對外封鎖消息，連時任首相菅直人都被蒙在鼓里，菅直人沖進東電總部吼道：到底怎么回事?海嘯來襲數(shù)小時之后，反應堆爐心就已融毀，但直到9個禮拜后東電才正式披露消息。Toshio Nishizawa也承認東電已失去公眾信任，并表示重獲信任，絕不是一朝一夕的事情。

　　Asked whether the reactor was damaged by thequake itself , Mr Nishizawa says it is unclear: we mustwait for a report in November. This question matters.If the reactors in quake-prone Japan are not quake-proof, nuclear power may not be safe. An official at anuclear regulator says there is evidence that thequake did indeed damage the reactor.

　　對于地震是否為摧毀反應堆元兇這個問題，Toshio Nishizawa的回答是不清楚，說要等到11月報告出臺后，方才清楚。地震是不是元兇這個問題至關重要。日本這么一個地震頻發(fā)的國家，倘若反應堆不抗震，那么核能也許就不安全。核能監(jiān)管部門的一名官員表示，有證據(jù)表明的確是地震摧毀了反應堆。

　　Since the disaster, Japanese people have made heroic efforts to save energy. Householdssnuffed out lights and unplugged their heated toilet seats. Big companies reduced their energyuse by 15% . Many began the workday earlier or switched to night shifts. Thecar industry took Thursdays and Fridays off and toiled at weekends, when electricity demand islower. In TEPCOs region , peak usage fell to 49 gigawatts, from 60 gigawattslast year. Everyone expected blackouts; none occurred. On September 9th, as the summersheat faded, the government announced an end to setsuden.

　　災難過后,日本民眾做出巨大努力節(jié)省能源。家家戶戶熄掉電燈，關掉便桶加熱器。大公司紛紛砍掉了15%的能耗。不少日本人要么工作日早早起床工作，要么轉(zhuǎn)而倒夜班。由于周末電力需求不那么緊張，汽車工業(yè)周四周五停工，周六周日苦干。今年，東電轄區(qū)的高峰用電量從去年同期的60千兆瓦下降到49千兆瓦。人人都做好了大面積停電的準備，卻多慮了。9月9日，鑒于酷暑散去，日本政府宣布能源節(jié)約告一段落。

　　Yet Japans energy problems are far from resolved. If the nuclear freeze lasts for a year, it willcut GDP by an estimated 3.6% and destroy almost 200,000 jobs. Meanwhile, three-fifths of thepublic say they have little confidence in nuclear power.

　　然而，日本能源危機還遠遠沒有解決。倘若到明年3月，核能仍未能重啟的話，預計，GDP將會因此下滑3.6%，20萬工作崗位也會隨之灰飛煙滅。與此同時，3/5的民眾對核能沒什么信心。

　　Japan needs a robust and diverse energy industry. Instead it has ten regional monopolies, which hog 97% of the market for electricity generation and transmission.Residential consumers pay nearly twice as much as Americans and three times as much asSouth Koreans . After modest deregulation began for big commercial users adecade ago, prices plummeted by 16% between 1999 and 2005. Yet lacking political support,the reforms went into reverse.

　　日本需要一個強勁而又多元化的能源產(chǎn)業(yè)。但事與愿違，卻崛起了10家區(qū)域壟斷電力集團，他們把持著全國97%的發(fā)電輸電市場份額。日本家庭用戶上繳的電費幾乎是美國人的2倍，韓國人的3倍。十年前，政府開始實施針對大型商業(yè)用戶的供電適度寬松政策，使得電價在1999到2005年間下滑了16%。然而由于缺少政治支持，供電改革走上回頭路。

　　Electricity prices are high because the monopolieshave little incentive to cut costs. On the contrary,their profit margins are fixed by the government, soif they inflate their costs, they boost their income.At the same time, the utilities charge residentialconsumers a flat rate, giving them no incentive torun appliances during off-peak hours. Alternativeenergy gets short shrift. Although Japanese firmsare leaders in green technologies such as wind, solarand geothermal, these sources account for only 1%of all power generation.

　　電價高昂是因為壟斷商們沒什么理由削減成本。而恰恰相反，由于政府規(guī)定死了電力公司的利潤率，所以他們一旦抬高成本，盈利就會隨之增加。同時電力公司按時計價收取家庭用戶電費，因此，即使是非高峰時段，用戶也沒理由狂用家電。替代能源也不受待見。雖說日本企業(yè)在風能，太陽能和地熱能等綠色能源產(chǎn)業(yè)上處于領先地位，但綠色能源發(fā)電也只占總發(fā)電量的 1%。

　　TEPCOs influence is vast. It supports politicians from one party; its union supports their rivals.It finances academic research on energy. It takes hacks on junkets. And last year it spent ?26billion on advertising and promotiona fortune for a firm with no seriouscompetitors.

　　東電有著巨大的影響力。集團支持一黨政客，工會則支持他們的競爭對手。東電為學術能源研究買單,并且資助低層官員公費旅游。去年，東電又花費260億日元做宣傳，打廣告。沒有強勁競爭對手的東電卻耗費了這么一筆巨款。

　　Reformers urge the break-up of Japans power monopolies. Separating generation fromtransmission and opening the door to new entrants would raise efficiency and reduce costs.However, Keidanren, the lobby for big business, opposes deregulation on the ground thatTEPCO and its ilk ensure a stable supply of electricity. Several Keidanren members sell partsand services to the power monopolies, and receive steep discounts on the power they use.

　　革新人士敦促打日本打破能源壟斷局勢。發(fā)電與輸電分開經(jīng)營，打開大門歡迎新成員入駐電力產(chǎn)業(yè)，都能提高效率并降低成本。然而，大企業(yè)游說團體卻反對放寬管制，他們的理由是東電及其同行能夠確保供電穩(wěn)定。Keidanren的幾個會員是電力壟斷集團的零件及服務供給商，同時他們也享受著巨大的電價折扣。

　　Many politicians believe that TEPCO must be preserved so it can compensate the victims ofthe nuclear accident at Fukushima. A law governing compensation was approved by the Dieton August 3rd. It creates a mechanism to collect funds from TEPCO and other power firmsbut fails to specify how the costs will be shared. On September 12th TEPCO sent out forms forevacuees to fill in. These are 60 pages long.

　　不少政客認為東電不能倒臺，因為福島核事故受害者還等著她賠償呢。日本議會于8月3日通過了賠償法案，該法案提出向東電及其它電力公司籌資，但卻未指明各方承擔多少賠償份額。9月12日，東電分發(fā)表格供撤離人員填寫，這些表格長達60頁。

　　The new government of Yoshihiko Noda wants to reduce Japans reliance on nuclear power inthe medium term, but hopes to restart idle reactors in the meantime. Without cheap, reliablepower, businesses may move abroad.

　　野田佳彥新政府打算在中期時間之內(nèi)，降低日本對核能的依賴，但同時，他們也希望重啟閑置反應堆。如若沒有廉價可靠的電力供應，許多企業(yè)可能會遷往國外。

　　New firms are clamouring to enter the energy business. Masayoshi Son, a wireless tycoon, plansto build huge solar-power stations and a new grid to connect Japanese prefectures. But theregulatory process is a nightmare, he says. A new law on green energy gives few clues as tohow new producers can sell power to the grid, or whether the incumbents have to buy it. Noteven an earthquake, it seems, can shake the monopolists grip.

　　新企業(yè)吵著要開進能源產(chǎn)業(yè)。無線巨頭Masayoshi Son打算興建大型太陽能發(fā)電站，并計劃新開通一條輸電網(wǎng)，連通日本各縣。但他表示，規(guī)章程序好比噩夢一場。新出臺的綠色能源法案幾乎未說明，新發(fā)電商通過何種渠道向電網(wǎng)出售電力，也未說明現(xiàn)在的電力供應企業(yè)是否要購買新能源電力。似乎即便是地震也無法撼動壟斷集團的鐵爪。