A remotely controlled robot began its second mission on Tuesday to retrieve radioactive waste inside the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan.
The goal of the mission – which follows a similar effort last autumn – is to eventually develop the robot technology required for a larger cleanup of the facility.
The robot, called "telesco", can, as its name suggests, extend and become up to 22 meters long. Equipped with a camera and gripper, it will now be taken further into reactor two, closer to the core, than last time. The journey is expected to take several days.
Cleaning up the estimated 880 tons of melted nuclear fuel in the buildings is expected to take many years. The robot can only retrieve a few grams. But the Japanese government and nuclear power operator Tepco hope to be able to scale up the method starting in 2030.
The nuclear power plant was destroyed in the earthquake and tsunami disaster in 2011.
