Robots are getting extensive use at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station. They are being used to access places in the plant where initial radiation levels are too high for personnel.
The robots, US military models called PackBots, were donated to Japan by iRobot shortly after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station was damaged by the March 11 tsunami.
The 60-pound iRobot PackBots are equipped with cameras and a variety of sensors to enable unmanned surveillance of potentially dangerous areas. A flexible arm allows the unit to pick up items and operate simple doorknobs and latches. The robots can be controlled remotely by radio or through a fiber-optic cable that unwraps from a spool mounted on the machine.
A Packbot probe sent in yesterday found temperatures up to 41 degrees Celsius and humidity ranging from 94 to 99 per cent, the Tokyo Electric Power Company said today.
Despite fears over the high temperature, the robot also recorded lower radiation levels than in the damaged No 1 and No 3 reactor buildings.
The photos were taken by the Packbot inside the nuclear reactor building of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station:
UNIT 1
UNIT 2
UNIT 3
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