Parts of Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, which was devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, are still too dangerous for humans to enter. But not, perhaps, for UAS. A team from the University of Bristol, backed by Sellafield, has offered its services.
They have developed a large semi-autonomous UAS called the ARM system which can detect radiation down to an extremely specific location – even metre by metre. It could help the clean-up by going into areas which were previously inaccessible and identifying the worst-affected locations, allowing engineers to plot a safe decommissioning process for the four reactors.
Helicopters and other monitors have been doing this work – but none has been able to get close enough to paint a proper, comprehensive picture on the ground, an important step in securing the site for the future.
Dr Tom Scott, the project lead, said: “By using lightweight and low-cost unmanned aerial vehicles systems, we can immediately and remotely determine the spread and intensity of radiation following any such event. The systems have sufficient in-built intelligence to deploy them following an incident and are effectively disposable if they become contaminated.”
The Bristol scientists hope to take the machine, which Channel 4 News took on a test flight, to Fukushima next year.
Source: Channel 4 News