US Sends Robotic help to Japan FINALLY!

The US government is sending robotic help to Japan to help regain control of the tsunami-damaged nuclear plant.

A department spokeswoman said a robotic device from the Idaho National Laboratory is being shipped along with several radiation-hardened cameras.

Peter Lyons, an acting assistant energy secretary, said Japanese officials were ''very, very interested'' in learning more about the capabilities of US robots.

The United States is also sending robot operators who would be used to train Japanese operators, Lyons said.

Robots with electronics built to withstand radiation could presumably work in areas where radiation levels would harm or even kill a person. Workers at the stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi plant have been exposed to high levels of radiation and burned.

Stephanie Mueller, a spokeswoman for the Energy Department, said remote-controlled robotic machines have been used to conduct environmental clean-up and other activities in contaminated areas, although not at a compromised nuclear reactor such as the ones in Japan.

The device being shipped to Japan is equipped to provide visuals, radiological surveys and mapping data in areas of the plant that are not accessible to humans due to radiation levels that are above recommended safety guidelines.

In addition to the robots, the energy department has sent about 40 employees and more than 7710kg of equipment to Japan, Lyons said.

SLOW RECOVERY

Bill Borchardt, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's executive director for operations, said progress is being made at Japan's damaged Fukushima nuclear plant, but he would not speculate how long it will take to bring the plant under control.

''I really can't even hazard a guess on how long that will be,'' he said.

There are still ''a lot of hurdles to overcome'' at the Fukushima plant, but ''things are headed in the right direction,'' he added.

Lyons said current information suggests that the Japanese plant is in a ''slow recovery'' from the accident but added that long-term cooling of the reactor units and pools is essential.

''A massive clean-up operation obviously remains,'' he said.

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Department of Energy robots? Where are those expensive military DARPA robots that are supposed to be able to retrieve wounded soldiers from a battlefield, and even replace soldiers as combatants? If they can hold a gun and fire at enemies, then they could hold a water hose and fire at the burning fuel rods. Are they afraid of a little radiation?

Sorry just reminds me of a bad sci-fi from years ago.
"Number 5 is alive"
Or even worse the terminator.
Either way, the Japanese and the world is screwed.

OH NO!

Please don't send that cute robot into danger!

Sorry, totally inappropriate I know - just couldn't resist.

It took them long enough didn't it - almost 3 weeks after the disaster all those 'heroes' of fukushima that are not about to lose their lives

Originally posted by Larryman
Where are those expensive military DARPA robots ... Are they afraid of a little radiation?

Yes. Not exactly afraid but they might malfunction if they aren't Radiation hardened

I thought Japan had some pretty advanced robots also, but they may have the same problem of not being radiation hardened. I suppose the bots can zig when you tell them to zag if they aren't radiation hardened.