Sunday, 3 November 2024
Hot bot got not a lot
A robot retrieves the first melted fuel from Fukushima nuclear reactor
A remote-controlled robot has safely returned with a tiny piece of melted fuel it collected from inside one of three damaged reactors at the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant for the first time since the 2011 meltdown.
The Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, which manages the plant, said Saturday that the extendable fishing rod-like robot successfully clipped a gravel as big as 5 millimeters (2 inches), the size of a tiny granola bit, from the top surface of a mound of molten fuel debris that sits on the bottom of the No. 2 reactor’s primary containment vessel.
5 millimeters isn't 2 inches but it's the Independent, so numbers and units aren't a strong point.
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7 comments:
The Independent is best thought of as the Guardian for people who prefer pictures to words. I'm surprised it keeps going.
Sam - I'm surprised it keeps going too. I don't know how adults take it seriously.
My guess is that someone, somewhere, has confused 5 centimetres with 5 millimetres and that that confusion has not been caught by the editors (or verification unit?).
Just remember anything else in the Independent may be just as slapdash.
Did they say how long it would take to get it all at one bit of gravel at a time? I reckon the radioactive crap might be safe to eat, before that thing finishes the job
DJ - that would be my guess, but the Independent would probably say it isn't usually that dashslap.
Bucko - yes it does seem rather slow, we gather up moon rock more quickly than that.
My lady companion suggest the robot is a male, as size never was a male's strong point. How harsh!
Penseivat
Penseivat - harsh indeed, but at least the robot didn't flick the gravel under a nearby rug and claim the job was done.
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