Robot, drone missions fail at Japan plant
TOKYO — Two high-tech machines intended to help workers at Japan’s tsunami-hit nuclear plant malfunctioned yesterday, including a long-awaited Japanese robot making its first attempt to take important measurements in areas too dangerous for humans.
The other machine that failed was a T-Hawk drone helicopter made by Honeywell in the United States that made an emergency landing on a reactor roof at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. is trying to cool down three molten reactor cores and stop radiation leaks to end a crisis set off when the March 11 earthquake and tsunami crippled the plant. The job is expected to take several more months and is complicated by massive amounts of radioactive water that could soon leak into the sea.
The Quince robot, developed by Chiba Institute of Technology for nuclear and biological disaster relief activity, had ventured into the Unit 2 reactor building to set up a gauge to measure the contaminated water pooling in the basement.
Radioactivity inside the reactor buildings is too high for workers to take measurements there.
The machine got stuck at a staircase landing and failed to go downstairs, Tokyo Electric spokesman Junichi Matsumoto said. A cable that was supposed to drop a gauge into the basement also malfunctioned.
The workers retrieved the robot and were going to make adjustments before sending it back in for another try, Matsumoto said. He did not elaborate.
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