• How a Robot Is Grabbing Fuel From a Fukushima Reactor

    How a Robot Is Grabbing Fuel From a Fukushima Reactor
    Thirteen years since a massive earthquake and tsunami struck the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in northern Japan, causing a loss of power, meltdowns and a major release of radioactive material, operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) finally seems to be close to extracting the first bit of melted fuel from the complex—thanks to a special telescopic robotic device. Despite Japan’s prowess in industrial robotics, TEPCO had no robots to deploy in the immediate aftermath of th