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Cleaner robot pulled from Fukushima reactor due to radiation

19 Comments
By MARI YAMAGUCHI

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19 Comments
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It's so bad the little roomba can't even function properly!

Here's an idea...hire NASA to help develop a robot that can withstand these extreme conditions. If they can send rovers to Mars and even the harsh conditions of Venus, Daiichi shouldn't be an issue. But seeing as how this thing shouldn't have been an issue so many times in the past, I doubt they'll suddenly start doing the right things.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

TEPCO officials said that despite the dangerously high figures, radiation is not leaking outside of the reactor.

Oh, yes! And, we believe this because....?????

It seems that Abe's statement to the IOC, "It's under control" was a straight up lit!

1 ( +6 / -5 )

@Disillusioned... good one mate! On the same note members of IOC were bigger idiots in believing Abe!

0 ( +4 / -4 )

TEPCO officials said that despite the dangerously high figures, radiation is not leaking outside of the reactor.

Oh, yes! And, we believe this because....?????

It seems that Abe's statement to the IOC, "It's under control" was a straight up lit!

Radiation in this area has not been measured before, and it was expected to be extremely high. While 530 Sv/hr is the highest measured so far at Fukushima Daiichi, it does not mean that levels there are rising, but that a previously unmeasurable high-radiation area has finally been measured.

Radiation levels near Daiichi to be steadily declining.

-3 ( +2 / -5 )

If Abe reckons it's 'all under control', why doesn't he go in with a scraper and show the robot how it's done? I'm sure a lot of peole would love for him to try!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

"Oh, yes! And, we believe this because....????? "

We have the choice of neither believing it, nor disbelieving it. One can suspend judgement until a later time when new information or evidence would sway ones belief in either direction.

For instance, if someone claims that the exact number of people with the surname "Jones" in Boston is 500,381 I have the option of suspending my belief until further data is made available. I need not accept the claim, nor deny it.

To deny the claim that no radiation is leaking outside the reactor would entail that I have rational proof and reason to conclude that the claim is false. To merely deny that the claim is true, based on "feeling", is irrational. Even if the person making the claim is a liar...I need to know if the person is lying on this particular claim before I can rationally deny its validity.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Cleaner robot pulled from Fukushima reactor due to radiation

The robot got cleaner due to radiation?

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

Well one can only imagine the effects on living organisms if robots have to be pulled out of such an area!!

1 ( +3 / -2 )

DisillusionedFEB. 10, 2017 - 08:53AM JST

TEPCO officials said that despite the dangerously high figures, radiation is not leaking outside of the reactor.

Oh, yes! And, we believe this because....?????

Because the radiation counts outside of the building are low.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

6 years and...nothing. Let's restart!

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

@Disillusioned - here's an interesting article I found the other day. Puts things into perspective a bit more.

http://www.iflscience.com/editors-blog/whats-going-on-at-fukushima/

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

The effects of the radiation levels inside the containment chamber is DEATH. Nothing will survive that amount of radiation and I mean nothing! Perhaps the best possible solution is to seal them in place. Build an containment structure around the three plants. I do not believe it is possible to remove this fuel. Then use it as a poster child for things going wrong and doing things on the cheap. Again some things are impossible at this time.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

It's so dangerous, they're going to start using a foreign robot?

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

@YuriOtani

Leaving the fuel in place is not really an option. The problem is that bits of the radioactive material will be carried away by water over time. Plus there is a need to keep the material from going critical, which would cause additional complications, such as the generation of other radioactive isotopes, including difficult to contain gases. Hence the complicated but necessary operation to gather the material and dispose of it properly ("dispose" may be the wrong word; placing it in long term storage may be more accurate).

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Great idea Penske. Never thought of that.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

aki009, I do not believe it is possible to remove the fuel with today's technology. Perhaps it would be possible to insert graphic rods/pellets to affect the level of radiation. What is known is our people and technology do not stand up to such high levels of radiation. Perhaps one day it will be possible to remove the fuel but first it is essential to contain the fuel to the containment facility. If this nuclear material would escape, it would be a nuclear disaster of the worse magnitude. Our machines last less than 2 minutes and people would have a lethal dose in about a minute.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Normal radiation inside active, working reactor is about 65.000.000 Sv/h. Also in March 2011 Tepco detected water radiated about 1000 Sv/h.. so not so big news this time..

1 ( +2 / -1 )

@YuriOtani,

The radiation levels are high, but not unmanageable. The 2 minute timeframe you are talking about only applies if the fuel is actually past critical, which is not the case. It is quite reasonable to expect 1000 Sv endurance from the electronics in these robots, and after the worst pockets are cleared up, the levels will drop significantly. In the big scheme of things, the cost of machines to clean the mess up is actually quite small.

As to your concern about the material escaping, it really won't do so unless it is disturbed. The problem we have is that disturbances in a seismically active zone are guaranteed. Hence there is little choice but to clean it up.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Clean up the radioactive materials and load it onto a dependable Atlas rocket and send it on a one way trip to the Sun.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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