Robot enters Fukushima, finds problem (video)

Time; AP.org, July 23, 2017; Ashley Wells, CC Liu, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

I was offered the job. This is what I showed them. They used a swimming bot* instead.

(Time, July 19, 2017) An underwater robot entered a badly damaged reactor at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant Wednesday, capturing images of the harsh impact of its meltdown, including key structures that were torn and knocked out of place.

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Robot finds likely melted fuel heap inside Fukushima reactor

1: photo from the robot showing debris (AP)

TOKYO, Japan - Images captured by an underwater robot showed massive deposits believed to be melted nuclear fuel covering the floor of a damaged reactor at Japan's [highly contaminated and] crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.

2: lava-like formations underwater (AP)

The robot found large amounts of solidified lava-like rocks and lumps in layers as thick as 3 feet (1 meter) on the bottom inside of a main structure called the pedestal that sits underneath the core inside the primary containment vessel of Fukushima's Unit 3 reactor, said the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO).

*This is the remote-controlled swimming robot used in the Fukushima operation (Time).

• PHOTO 1. Massive deposits believed to be melted nuclear fuel covering the floor of a damaged reactor at Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in Okuma town, northeastern Japan (International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning/AP).
• 2. Heaps of solidified lava-like rocks believed to be nuclear fuel that had melted in the 2011 accident during a probe inside of the Unit 3 reactor at Japan's tsunami-wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant.

I'd go, but I'm Catholic! (BlessU2/The Sun)

On Friday (July 21, 2017), the robot spotted suspected debris of melted fuel for the first time since the 2011 earthquake and tsunami caused multiple meltdowns and destroyed the plant. The three-day probe of Unit 3 ended Saturday.

Locating and analyzing the fuel debris and damage in each of the plant's three wrecked reactors is crucial for decommissioning the plant. The search for melted fuel in the two other reactors has so far been unsuccessful because of damage and extremely high radiation levels.

There-there, C3PO. He's scared of Fukushima.

During this week's probe, cameras mounted on the robot showed extensive damage caused by the core meltdown, with fuel debris mixed with broken reactor parts, suggesting the difficult challenges ahead in the decades-long decommissioning of the destroyed plant.

TEPCO spokesman Takahiro Kimoto said it would take time to analyze the debris in the images to figure out debris removal methods. More