Monday, April 18, 2011

#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: Reactor 2 Bldg Was Too Steamy for iRobot

and the bot couldn't record the radiation level.

Yomiuri Shinbun (in Japanese; 12:37PM JST 4/19/2011) reports:

TEPCO couldn't get enough data on the radiation level in the Reactor 2 building. Two remote-controlled robots went through the door to the Reactor 2 building on April 2. But after measuring 4.1 milli-sievert/hr near the door, the camera lens quickly became foggy due to high humidity (94 to 99%) and couldn't record the radiation level.

Oops.

But wait... Now if I think about it, even if one bot couldn't take a photograph of the reading by the other bot, the readings were stored in the bot, right?

Is TEPCO hiding the information (again), or is iRobot incapable of storing the readings?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well so much for "robots to the rescue" if a little steam can blind them then they aren't going to be much help in #2. The steam may have contaminated the survey meter enough that they discounted the readings but I doubt it. The most likely scenario is the number was too high to fit their predetermined "road-map". I find it hard to believe they don't have a data recording geiger counter I have one and I don't even run an NPP.

arevamirpal::laprimavera said...

@robbie, given what they've done at the plant (my favorite remains bath salt as tracer) they may not have a data recording geiger counter.

Either that, or the radiation was way too high (my guess 400 milli-sievert instead of 4), or they couldn't figure out how to operate the bots. Why TEPCO's employees operating them, instead of iRobot employees? Oh I forgot. The US set the evacuation zone at 80 kilometers radius, so iRobot employees who are in Japan probably can't go anywhere near the plant..

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