Robot probes sent to one of Japan’s wrecked Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear reactors have suggested worse-than-anticipated challenges for the plant’s ongoing cleanup.
The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), said the remote-controlled “scorpion” robot was sent into the Unit 2 reactor’s containment vessel on Thursday to investigate the area around the core that had melted six years ago, but it failed while climbing over highly radioactive debris.
The robot, carrying a dosimeter and two small cameras, transmitted some data and visuals, but could not locate melted fuel — key information to determine how to remove debris out of the reactor.
Photo: TEPCO via AP
The robot was abandoned inside the vessel at a location where it will not block a future robot.
Preliminary examinations over the past few weeks have detected structural damage to planned robot routes and higher-than-expected radiation, suggesting the need to revise robot designs and probes.
TEPCO is struggling with the plant’s decommissioning, which is expected to last decades, following the March 11, 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.
Inadequate cleaning, high radiation and structural damage could limit subsequent probes and may require more radiation-resistant cameras and other equipment, TEPCO officials said.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of