A robot on Friday crept into the deadly primary containment vessel of reactor 1 of the Fukushima No. 1 power plant to surveil its damaged interior, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said.
It is the first time a robot has entered the PCV of any of the three stricken reactors at the meltdown-hit plant, and the snake-like contraption might give the utility a better idea of what happened to the pressure vessel and its core in the disaster.
Tepco plans to have the robot check half of the first floor of the bulbous PCV on Friday and examine the other half on Monday.