This sprawling city, 55 kilometers away from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi reactors, is leading the next phase of Japan's struggles with radiation: deciding how to handle populations in contaminated communities where the level isn't high enough to justify evacuation.

　　伊達市是距離受損的福島第一核電站55公里遠的一個不斷向外擴展的城市，它將成為日本艱難應(yīng)對核輻射下一個階段的代表：決定如何安置疏散區(qū)以外受污染區(qū)域的居民。

　　Five months after a nuclear accident blew radioactive particles across the countryside, contamination in Date (pronounced DAH-tay) is deemed low enough to be manageable -- as long as residents don't spend too long outside, and avoid spots such as parks and forests, where radioactive elements tend to gather. Radioactive cesium has a tendency to bind with earth, and flow along with silt in water.

　　在一場核事故將放射性顆粒吹到日本鄉(xiāng)村五個月后，伊達市的受污染程度被認為較低，是可以應(yīng)付的──只要居民們別在室外呆太長時間，并且避開公園和樹林等放射性物質(zhì)容易積聚的地方。放射性銫往往會與土壤結(jié)合在一起，隨泥沙順水而下。

　　The government is urging Date's citizens to decontaminate their houses and fields. Instead of the wholesale evacuation urged on towns with higher radiation levels, Date is suggesting families leave only when their homes are deemed mini “hot spots” -- where radiation levels are so high they could be worrisome.

　　政府開始敦促伊達市民消除房屋和田地的污染。伊達市政府建議居民只有在房屋被認為是小“熱點”時再離開，而不是向輻射水平更高的城鎮(zhèn)那樣敦促實施整體疏散。熱點是輻射水平高到可能令人不安的地區(qū)。

　　The new hot spots are devilishly small and scattered: one out of five houses in the neighborhood of Kaki-no-uchi; six households of 10 in Aiyoshi. In some cases, next-door neighbors have received differing recommendations.

　　新的熱點非常小且分散：Kaki-no-uchi區(qū)五分之一的房屋，Aiyoshi區(qū)60%的房屋。有些情況下，相鄰的兩戶人接到了不同的疏散建議。

　　Even for those houses tapped, evacuation is optional, though the government provides assistance for those who choose to leave.

　　即使是對成為熱點的房屋，疏散也是自愿的，但政府會為那些選擇離開的人提供幫助。

　　In July, the Japanese government declared 113 households out of the 21,800 in Date eligible for evacuation, in the first trial of the new policy. It has since moved on to other towns. During the past month it has done the same with 131 households in the city of Minamisoma, and late last month finished surveying more than 2,000 homes in the city of Fukushima, population 290,000.

　　7月份，作為新政策的首個試點，日本政府宣布伊達市的21,800戶中有113戶達到疏散標準。此后，試點在其他城鎮(zhèn)推行。在上個月中，南相馬市有131戶符合疏散標準，上個月底完成了對人口有29萬人的福島市2,000多戶的調(diào)查。

　　“The idea is that there are certain points where radiation levels are high, but if you avoid those points, you'll be fine,” explains Masato Kino, a spokesman at the government's nuclear-response center in Fukushima city.

　　政府駐福島市核應(yīng)急中心發(fā)言人Masato Kino解釋說，主要的想法是某些地點的輻射水平很高，但如果你避開這些地點，你就不會有事。

　　But implementing such a strategy hasn't proven easy on the ground. The Japanese government says the ceiling for what it is calling safe -- 20 millisieverts of accumulated radiation exposure per year -- is one-fifth the level at which scientists see the first solid signs of health risk. A chest X-ray is about 0.05 millisievert. But 20 millisieverts a year is at the top of an internationally set range for safety in long-term-exposure situations. Officials say they're suggesting evacuation at lower levels for pregnant women and children, though they won't say precisely what those levels are.

　　不過，實施這樣一種戰(zhàn)略事實上證明并不容易。日本政府說，設(shè)定的安全標準（每年總輻射量不超過20毫西弗）是科學家認為的、首個切實健康風險跡象的輻射水平的五分之一。拍一次X光胸片的輻射量約為0.05毫西弗。不過，每年20毫西弗的輻射量是國際上對長期輻射環(huán)境下安全范圍標準設(shè)定的上限。官員們說，他們建議孕婦和兒童在較低的水平就進行疏散，但沒有透露具體的水平是多少。

　　Date residents complain the measurements aren't reliable, and that the line between who stays and who goes is fuzzy. Families who qualify for evacuation get breaks on property taxes, insurance premiums and medical fees -- assistance potentially worth thousands of dollars -- fanning jealousy among neighbors who get nothing. And many residents aren't convinced it is safe to stay behind.

　　伊達市民抱怨稱，這種測量方法不可靠，留下和撤離之間的界限模糊不清。有資格撤離的家庭可得到財產(chǎn)稅、保險保費和醫(yī)療費用的減免，大概相當于數(shù)千美元的援助，那些沒有得到任何補償?shù)泥従硬唤械蕉始?。很多市民并不相信留下來是安全的?

　　Most of Date's hot spots are clustered in the district of Oguni, a verdant, hilly area full of farms and forests. In June, inspectors hired by the government fanned out across the area, carrying portable radiation meters with silver probes to survey 485 houses. They were looking for amounts of radiation that could put residents at risk of accumulating more than 20 millisieverts of exposure a year, a level that worked out to about 3.2 microsieverts an hour.

　　伊達市的大多數(shù)輻射熱點都聚集在小國町(Oguni)區(qū)內(nèi)，這是一個遍布農(nóng)田和林地的青蔥翠綠的山區(qū)。今年6月，政府聘請的檢查人員深入小國町，帶著裝有銀質(zhì)探測器的便攜輻射儀對485個居所進行了實地考察，尋找可能使居民健康受威脅的每年累計超過20毫西弗的輻射量，換算下來相當于每小時約3.2微西弗。

　　At each house the inspectors measured two spots -- in the yard and at the front door -- at heights of about one meter. In choosing the spots, the inspectors were warned to stay away from areas such as drains, shrubbery and rainspouts, where radioactive elements tend to gather, potentially skewing results.

　　在每處居所，檢查員都要在院內(nèi)和前門距地面約1米處選取兩個點測量輻射值。有關(guān)方面提醒檢查員在選擇測試點時，要遠離下水道、灌木和排水口等地方，因為放射性物質(zhì)往往會在這些地方聚集，可能會影響結(jié)果的準確性。

　　In July, letters started arriving at the 113 houses deemed hot spots.

　　部分市民7月收到了通知，共有113處住所被認定為輻射熱點。

　　Lumber-company owner Morio Onami says his house didn't qualify for evacuation, even though his son's, just a few steps away, did.

　　木材公司老板Morio Onami說，他的房子不具備撤離資格，不過他兒子的房子就可以，雖然兩者相距只有幾步之遙。

　　'At first I thought it was a mistake,' says Mr. Onami, 69 years old.

　　69歲的Onami說，起初我以為弄錯了。

　　His son, who lived with his wife and two children in a big, new house on the family plot, were told radiation levels were high enough to evacuate. But Mr. Onami and his wife, Sato, who lived in the family's original dwelling, got no such notice. The two houses got different readings -- 3.2 microsieverts an hour in the yard at Mr. Onami's son's house, versus 2.4 microsieverts at his. But the two households functioned as one, with everyone using the same bathtub, Japanese style.

　　Onami的兒子與兒媳帶著兩個孩子住在一所較大的新房子里，新房與他的舊房共建在一塊家庭用地上。兒子接到了通知，說他的房屋輻射值過高，可以撤離。但住在舊房里的Onami與妻子卻沒有接到這類通知。兩所房子的輻射值不同，兒子的院子每小時輻射為3.2微西弗，而Onami的院子只有2.4微西弗。但兩家人共用一個日式浴缸。

　　Mr. Onami says he'll stay behind, while the rest of his family -- including his wife -- evacuates.

　　Onami說，他會留下來，而自己的家人(包括其妻子)會撤離。