沃尔德说，当一开始设计核电厂时，监管机构预计，乏燃料棒应该存放在冷却水池里，五年以后捞出来，再经过化学处理而转化为钸。
When nuclear plants were designed, says Wald, regulators anticipated that spent fuel rods would sit in cooling water pools for five years and then be chemically processed and turned into plutonium.
4号反应堆第一次起火时就伴随着比之前报告的更高剂量的辐射，人们怀疑这是由乏燃料泄漏引起的。
When the first fire at unit 4 was accompanied by radiation levels much higher than had been reported previously it raised the suspicion that the spent fuel had been involved.
尽管4号反应堆在地震时已经关闭，乏燃料棒的贮存池仍然令人担忧。危机应对的关键仍在于冷却燃料和控制泄漏，要做的工作有很多。
While reactor 4 was shut down at the time the earthquake occurred, there is concern there and at the other reactors about the pools containing used or spent uranium fuel rods.
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