If the containment structure around the reactor is not strong enough, the fuel potentially could be exposed to the outside environment, and can have devastating consequences for nearby communities.

如果反应堆的外壳结构不够坚固的话，那么燃料就有可能泄露到外面的环境，这将会对周围的地区产生毁灭性的结果。

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Recent attempts to keep the reactor cool by filling the containment chamber with water have run into difficulty.

但是，近来试图通过向反应堆容器注水来降温的努力似乎遇到了困难。

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This third containment is then surrounded by the reactor building.

第三容器被整个核反应堆建筑包围着。

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In like manner, I believe that reactors should be designed such that an earthquake of any magnitude could not destroy the reactor or its containment shell, further that if the reactor core was to start to melt down, the melt down itself would shut the reactor down and, at the very worst, the reactor would entomb itself with no potential release of radiation into the environment.

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The reactor vessels remained intact as did the reinforced concrete containment buildings, but each reactor building lost its hat due to the hydrogen explosions.

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In that accident, the lack of a containment vessel surrounding the reactor meant radioactive materials from the accident were spread far and wide.

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