Fukushima Robot Dies Three Hours After Entering Radioactive Reactor Vessel

A robot sent to inspect a reactor's containment vessel at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant stopped responding three hours into the operation.

TEPCO hoped to take a look inside the vessel containing one of the three reactors, which underwent a meltdown in the 2011 nuclear disaster.

A group of approximately 40 workers sent the remotely-controlled device, allegedly capable of withstanding high levels of radiation, into the vessel at 11:20 a.m. The robot stopped functioning after covering two thirds of the route at approximately 2:10 p.m., according to the Tokyo Electric Power Co.

The Japanese have sent a snake robot into Fukushima’s nuclear reactor to check things out. Wait, isn’t this how Gamera was created?

— Richard Dixon (@radiodixon) 10 апреля 2015

The company did not say whether it would send another robot into the vessel on Monday, as previously planned. TEPCO's ultimate goal is to use the robot to inspect the melted fuel inside the vessel.

One-use Snake-like Bot will Dangle / Crawl into #fukushima Unit1 to ascertain condition and location of melted Corium pic.twitter.com/7hqDVae0MX

— Plinkles (@Plinkleton) 9 февраля 2015