Robot Explores Fukushima Reactor

 

A robot entered a damaged reactor¹ at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant this week to take pictures of the reactor destroyed by an earthquake and tsunami² in 2011.

The robot, nicknamed 'The Little Sunfish,' is very small – about the size of a loaf of bread. It has lights, five propellers⁴, and two cameras, among other data collection tools.

Toshiba Corp., the electronics and energy company, and the International Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning, a government-funded group, developed the Little Sunfish.

Four operators control the Little Sunfish from afar. It is designed to tolerate radiation of up to 200 sieverts, a level that can kill humans instantly.

Robots are important for decommissioning the plant

Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, is the plant's operator. TEPCO spokesman Takahiro Kimoto praised the robot's work, saying it took pictures of the underwater damage that had not been previously⁵ seen. However, the pictures showed no sign of the melted nuclear fuel that researchers hope to find, he said.

Robots are a key part of the plan to decommission the damaged plant. However, high levels of radiation and damage have stopped robots from doing their work in the past.

In previous tests, two robots became stuck inside two of the plant's other reactors⁶.

A scorpion⁷-shaped robot failed inside the plant’s Unit 2 reactor. A snake-shaped robot designed to clear debris⁸ for the scorpion probe was removed after two hours when its cameras failed. The cameras failed because radiation levels were five times higher than anticipated.

Kimoto said the Little Sunfish showed that the Unit 3 reactor chamber⁹ was “clearly more severely¹⁰ damaged” than Unit 2, which was explored by the scorpion probe.

Scientists need to know the melted fuel’s exact location and understand the damage in each of the three wrecked¹¹ reactors. This information will help them to decide on the safest and most efficient ways to remove the fuel.

Japanese officials say they want to decide on methods for removing the melted nuclear fuel this summer. They hope to start the removal work in 2021.

I'm John Russell.

Words in This Story

reactor – n. a large device that produces nuclear energy

propeller³ – n. a device with two or more blades that turn quickly and cause a ship or aircraft to move

decommission – v. to officially stop using (a ship, weapon, dam, etc.) : to remove (something) from service

sievert – n. physics the standard unit in the International System of Units (SI) of dose equivalent having the same biological effect as one joule of x-rays per kilogram of recipient¹² mass (or one gray)

efficient – adj. capable of producing desired results without wasting materials, time, or energy

1 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

2 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

3 propeller   

n.螺旋桨，推进器

参考例句：

• The propeller started to spin around.螺旋桨开始飞快地旋转起来。
• A rope jammed the boat's propeller.一根绳子卡住了船的螺旋桨。

4 propellers   

n.螺旋桨，推进器( propeller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The water was thrashing and churning about under the propellers. 水在螺旋桨下面打旋、翻滚。 来自辞典例句
• The ship's propellers churned the waves to foam. 轮船的推进器将海浪搅出泡沫。 来自辞典例句

5 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

6 reactors   

起反应的人( reactor的名词复数 )； 反应装置； 原子炉； 核反应堆

参考例句：

• The TMI nuclear facility has two reactors. 三哩岛核设施有两个反应堆。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• The earliest production reactors necessarily used normal uranium as fuel. 最早为生产用的反应堆，必须使用普通铀作为燃料。

7 scorpion   

n.蝎子，心黑的人，蝎子鞭

参考例句：

• The scorpion has a sting that can be deadly.蝎子有可以致命的螫针。
• The scorpion has a sting that can be deadly.蝎子有可以致命的螫针。

8 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

9 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

10 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

11 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

12 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。