New 'transformer' robot changes shape to access deadly Fukushima nuclear facilities
New 'transformer' robot changes shape to access deadly
Fukushima nuclear facilities
February 06, 2015
By TSUYOSHI NAGANO/ Staff Writer
HITACHI, Ibaraki Prefecture--A new shape-changing robot
has been rolled out that can chart previously inaccessible areas of the damaged
containment vessels at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
The new device was demonstrated Feb. 5 at a plant owned
by Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy Ltd., one of the firms involved in its
development. The International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning,
an organization made up of electric power companies and nuclear power plant
manufacturers, developed it with a government subsidy.
The probe was conceived as a way to examine the
containment vessels, which are too radioactive for humans to enter. It is
scheduled for deployment at the No. 1 reactor building, which contains melted
fuel, this spring.
The tubular-shaped robot, measuring 60 centimeters long
in its normal state, can transform itself depending on the space it is trying
to enter and the task to perform.
In the demonstration at the factory, the robot, in its
tubular form, made its way through a pipe with a diameter of 10 cm. On the
other side of the pipe, it changed shape to crawl around and capture images of
the area.
The plan is to have the probe access the containment
vessels through the holes in the wall through which electrical power lines
pass.
Because strong radiation is harmful to electronic
machines as well, the robot's camera is only guaranteed to function for 10
hours. The device can also take radiation and temperature readings.
Comments
Post a Comment