New Fukushima robot probe of No. 2 reactor halted by camera glitch

Preparations to further examine the inside of the No. 2 reactor at the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant were halted Thursday by a technical glitch, the plant's manager said. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc., better known as Tepco, said it sent a robot with a high-pressure water nozzle into the primary containment vessel, which houses the pressure vessel, but halted the operation after video images from the robot's camera went dark. Tepco said the high radiation might have caused the camera glitch. The camera was designed to withstand 1,000 sieverts of cumulative exposure. Last week, the beleaguered utility said it estimated the radiation in the primary containment vessel to be as high as 530 sieverts per hour, during a similar probe late last month.