Video footage of inside No1 Reactor

May 15, 2015

Video shot by robot inside damaged reactor

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150515_40.html

May 15, 2015 - Updated 14:12 UTC+2

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on Friday released hundreds of hours of video footage showing the inside of the containment vessel of one reactor.

The footage was shot in April by 2 remote-controlled robots sent inside the No. 1 reactor's vessel where radiation levels are very high.

Footage first captured shows fallen rubble in front of the robot.

The probe's camera also captured what might be lead sheets that fell when meltdown occurred. Rubble can be seen piling up around them. All this testifies to the severity of the accident.

Meanwhile, no major damage was found in areas near the route leading to the bottom of the containment vessel.

Tokyo Electric Power Company plans to carry out further searches by sending robots to the lower levels of the vessel to look for nuclear fuel that melted down.

It also plans to send them into the containment vessel of the No. 2 reactor as early as August.

A survey using robots at the No. 3 reactor is expected to start as early as autumn this year.

The operator's effort using robots to look into the reactor vessels will go into full swing in preparation for removing nuclear fuel. That should be the most difficult part of the work in the reactors' decommissioning.