scorpion 復習

　もうすぐで東日本大震災から6年になりますが、未だに片付いていない問題があるのが現状です。

Robot probes show Japan reactor cleanup worse than expected

TEPCO is struggling with the plant’s decommissioning, which is expected to last decades, following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that led to the meltdown. Tens of thousands of residents had evacuated their homes, many of them still unable to return due to high radiation.

Earlier this month, another robot, designed for cleaning debris for the main “scorpion” probe, had to return midway through because two of its cameras became inoperable after two hours when its total radiation exposure reached a maximum tolerance of 1,000 Sievert - a level that can kill a human within seconds. The original duration planned for the robot was 10 hours, or 100 Sievert per hour.

（一部抜粋）

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/bad-news-from-japans-wrecked-fukushima-nuclear-reactor/

　記事内で強調されているscorpion/ˈskɔːpɪən/に注目しました。

　Oxford Dictionary of English (Second Edition Reserved, Oxford University Press)には、 “a terrestrial arachnid which has lobster-like pincers and poisonous sting at the end of its joined tail, which it can hold curved over the back”と定義されておりました。『ジーニアス英和辞典』（第五版，大修館）で調べたところ、「サソリ」と載っておりました。語源はギリシャ語で「大ばさみできる」が原義だそうです。またサソリは、「拷問・苦難・危害」などの象徴でもあります。

以上から “scorpion probe”でサソリのような形をした探知機を指していることが分かります。（Gomez）