A glitch halts again Telesco the robot’s attempt to get a sample from Fukushima nuclear reactor

Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Video feed issues halted the mission of a robot trying to retrieve the first sample of melted fuel debris from inside one of three damaged reactors at the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. This is the second time in less than a month the mission had to be suspended. The robot, dubbed “Telesco,” was to clip a fragment measuring less than 0.1 ounce on Tuesday from inside the Unit 2 primary containment vessel. The company managing the plant said the images from two of its four cameras, designed to capture the movements of its clippers and their surroundings, wouldn’t transmit and forced the mission to stop.