First Eyes Inside Nuclear Plant May Be A Robot'sWorkers in Japan want to look inside three troubled reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. But intense radiation inside the buildings means that it is too dangerous for them to enter. One solution? Robots. They're good at going places where people just don't want to go. And they could be at the site in a matter of days.
Full story at NPR
Can Japan Send In Robots To Fix Troubled Nuclear Reactors?
It's too dangerous for humans to enter the Fukushima Dai-1 nuclear plant. Why not send in robots?
When it comes to robots, Japan is a superpower, with some of the world's most advanced robotic systems and the highest levels of industrial automation. So it makes sense to ask: Why can't Japan use robots to fix the damaged reactors at the Fukushima Dai-1 nuclear power plant?
Many people have wondered about this possibility, and there's been a lot of speculation and confusion. One news report even slammed Japan for lacking nuclear-disaster robots.
I'd be the first to shout, "Send in the robots!" if it were clear that robots could help in this case. But things aren't that simple. To understand what robots can and cannot do at Fukushima, I spoke to several experts. Here's what they say:
Read more at IEEE Spectrum's robotics blog Automaton
