September 3, 2015

Robot to decontaminate reactor building

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150903_30.html

Sep. 3, 2015 - Updated 13:09 UTC+2

Engineers have tested a robot designed to remove radioactive substances from high places in nuclear reactor buildings at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power plant in northeastern Japan.

The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, plans to use the device as soon as October to decontaminate the building of the facility's No. 3 reactor.

The robot emits high-pressure jets of frozen carbon dioxide grains onto walls and scrapes off the coating along with radioactive substances. The machine's ladder-like structure with a nozzle can reach as high as 8 meters.

Engineers at electronics maker Toshiba tested the robot on Thursday at a factory in Toyohashi City, Aichi Prefecture. Part of the reactor building was simulated at the factory.

The engineers operated the robot remotely while watching footage from 22 cameras attached to the machine. They carefully scraped a blue coating off a 3-meter-high wall.

The device is expected to speed up decommissioning work at the plant, where other robots could not remove radioactive substances from high places. High radiation levels in the reactor buildings prevent workers from entering them.

Toshiba senior engineer Hitoshi Sakai said little is known about contamination at high places in the buildings. He added that his firm wants to create an environment that's accessible for workers by removing radioactive substances.