US sends robots to stricken nuclear plant

THE Obama administration is sending a squad of robots to Japan to help efforts to regain control over the Fukushima nuclear plant, it emerged on Tuesday. "A shipment is being readied," Peter Lyons, who oversees nuclear power in the department of energy, told a Senate committee. "The government of Japan is very, very interested in the capabilities that could be brought to bear from this country." The news came as the Japanese government said it was considering nationalising the operator of the crippled power plant at the centre of the worst nuclear accident in the country's history, amid mounting criticism of its handling of the crisis. "Our preparedness was not sufficient," government spokesman Yukio Edano said. "He said that when the current crisis was over they would thoroughly review safety standards. The prime minister, Naoto Kan, fought off criticism of his role, insisting to MPs that a state of "maximum alert" would be maintained until the power plant had been made safe. According to Lyons, engineers were making progress in resolving the emergency at Fukushima. "Current information suggests the plants are in a slow recovery from the accident," he told senators in Washington. But he and Bill Borchardt, director of operations for the US nuclear regulatory commission, would not predict when the crisis might be over. The advantage of deploying robots at Fukushima was underlined last week when two workers were exposed to high levels of radiation and burned. The workers were standing in pools of extremely radioactive water in a reactor turbine room without adequate protective gear. Robots, with electronics built to withstand radiation, can work in areas of Fukushima where radiation levels would soon kill a human engineer. They can also help experts get a view on damage to the reactor core. Lyons said the robots would be equipped with cameras as well as devices to measure radiation. "They could go places where you certainly wouldn't send a person," he said. The department of energy has developed a number of remotely operated robots designed to clear up radioactive waste from department of energy test sites, Lyons said. The earliest versions were developed in the wake of the Three Mile Island accident in 1979 when robots were sent in to get a view of the damaged reactor, and to suck up radioactive water and partially melted fuel. In addition to the robots, which will be accompanied by trainers, the US department of energy earlier sent nearly 40 people and almost eight tonnes of equipment. Lyons said US flights were only going within four kilometres of the plant, because of the elevated radiation levels. News that the Japanese government could take a majority stake in the Tokyo Electric Power company (Tepco) came as the government admitted that its nuclear safety standards had been insufficient to protect the plant against the tsunami.—Dawn/Guardian News Service