– CNN: “Strange green glow” seen inside Fukushima reactor — “Yellow, blue-green and other colors could be seen” — Radiation dose hits record high near 50 sieverts per hour — 15 seconds of video removed just before levels spiked 1,000% (VIDEO) (ENENews, April 20, 2015):
Wall St Journal, Apr 20, 2015 (emphasis added): Tepco to Abandon Second Robot Inside Fukushima Reactor… it has decided not to try to retrieve a second robot… citing radiation damage… [It] has now joined a previous robot which the utility also decided to leave there earlier this month… Tepco said one of the cameras used to monitor the second robot was damaged by the radiation. They decided to leave it inside to avoid the risk of it becoming stuck in a passageway…
NHK, Apr 20, 2015: The [first] robot was sent inside the vessel on April 10th but stopped working after advancing just 10 meters… TEPCO sent a second robot to retrieve the first robot. But the probe’s camera malfunctioned due to radiation exposure. The utility decided to abandon both robot probes.
Compare today’s media reports with Tepco’s most recent ‘prompt report’ on the second robot’s mission: “Radiation, Temperature Found Lower than Expected — Results so far indicate that the radiation dose was about 4.7 to 9.7Sv/h, less than a tenth of what was expected. That means the second robot can stay inside for about two to three days, rather than about 10 hours as originally planned.”
Jiji Press, Apr 20, 2015: [Tepco] said Monday it has given up attempts to recover a second shape-shifting robot… The electronics of the camera were apparently damaged by the high radiation in the PCV, the utility said. When powered up, the camera is designed to work for 10 hours in the intense radiation, but Tepco was unable to switch it on Saturday.
Also note the figures Tepco reported for the radiation dose (4.7 to 9.4 Sv/h). The company’s latest video shows the radiation dose spike to 48.2 Sv/h, by far the highest ever reported inside the Unit 1 containment vessel. Unfortunately, 16 seconds of the video was removed just as levels spiked from 3.7 Sv/h to 44.4 Sv/h.
CNN, Apr 20, 2015: Second robot captures glow inside stricken Fukushima plant — A second robotic probe… has captured images of a strange green glow.
Asahi Shimbun, Apr 19, 2015: Rust or peeling paint on a steel floor was visible in video footage taken by the second robot probe sent into one of the reactors.
Yomiuri Shimbun, Apr 18, 2015: Yellow, blue-green and other colors could be seen on the floor. “We have not been able to specify whether the colors were the effects of the robot’s lights or paint from equipment that melted…” said a TEPCO official.
Watch: NHK broadcast | Tepco footage