Another Fukushima Fail: Tepco’s Toughest Robot Fails Inside Fukushima Reactor

The ‘tough-built’ radiation-resistant robot, made to withstand up to 1000 sieverts per hour (Sv/hr) of radiation, had to be called back prematurely due to radiation-induced glitches, indicating that radiation levels in Fukushima reactor are even higher than previously estimated.

Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), the owner and operator of the now-defunct Fukushima-1 nuclear plant in Japan, had to pull its toughest radiation-resistant robot out of its Unit 2 reactor prematurely. The robot, built to withstand up to 1000 Sv/hr, failed to last the projected two hours inside the reactor, before starting to glitch.

As Sputnik reported earlier, Fukushima-1 Unit 2 reactor radiation readings had been estimated at “unimaginable” levels of 530 Sv/hr. This level of radiation is beyond extreme, even in comparison to the inside of the Chernobyl reactor, where radiation levels are ‘only’ 34 Sv/hr. The Chernobyl radiation levels are high enough to cause death in humans in about 20 minutes, and Fukushima’s earlier estimation, of 530 Sv/hr, is likely to kill a man in moments. Alarmingly, it is also more than powerful enough to kill purpose-built radiation-protected robots.

Tepco has previously lost five, less-shielded robots inside the Fukushima reactor. While earlier estimations showed 74 Sv/hr readings, Tepco, charged with decommissioning the destroyed facility, has been unpleasantly surprised to find that radiation levels underneath the reactor have spiked, due, in part, to nuclear fuel believed to have melted out of the reactor core. As a result, the company ordered the toughest robot available to clear the way for cleanup machines. Intended to function for two hours, Tepco pulled the machine prematurely, as its cameras developed noise and the image became too dark to use.

Radiation levels inside the damaged reactor are much higher than previously estimated, according to reports. Judging by camera noise and overall operation time, the team has increased its estimation to 650 Sv/hr. The robot failed to complete its mission of removing debris, including, it is thought, the remains of previous robots, inside the reactor chamber, and now the next robot to be sent inside will have less time to perform its job. The process of decommissioning the nuclear plant is expected to take at least 40 years, and cannot begin before a full assessment of the damage.

Tepco has reported that they have only acquired images of the reactor chamber, showing damaged structures, coated with molten material, possibly mixed with molten nuclear fuel. The robot was able to acquire images of a part of a disc platform that was located below the reactor core that had been melted through. This discovery supported earlier speculation that nuclear fuel has found its way outside of the reactor. Tepco continues to assert that no radiation is leaking outside of the building.

BendedReality Editor’s comment:

At the onset of this catastrophy back in March, 2011 many labeled this as a possible ELE (Extinction Level Event) and it is starting to really look as though it will be.

Just imagine what we are all absorbing as this is continually escaping into the water, air and soil from their crippled and mangled reactors.

Nuclear power will not go away despite the likelihood that we are all ‘walking dead’ due to the MANY and NUMEROUS past nuclear power plant accidents because money is the overriding factor and greed supercedes all logic and even long term survival!

There are many more than just Chernobyl and Fukushima, those just happen to be two of the worst so imagine what we are ALL enduring not to mention animals that live in the ocean where Fukushima is DIRECTLY dumping into 🙁 Most people ignore or dismiss things like Fukushima event or deny it because they cannot see it as it is killing them and the further out or away from the incident you are the affect can be so gradual that it can seem sensible to think it is not a big deal. Some just may deny it out of fear of reality. But this should not be ignored, it IS happening and will, in my opinion, be a partial mass extinction event, if not a total one.

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