Why we call it Slow Saturday.
"Robot, drone fail on Japan nuke-plant missions" by Mari Yamaguchi Associated Press / June 24, 2011
TOKYO—Two high-tech machines intended to help workers at Japan's tsunami-hit nuclear plant malfunctioned Friday, including a long-awaited Japanese robot making its first attempt to take important measurements in areas too dangerous for humans.
The other machine that failed was a drone helicopter that made an emergency landing on a reactor roof at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. is trying to cool down three molten reactor cores and stop radiation leaks to end a crisis set off when the March 11 earthquake and tsunami crippled the plant. The job is expected to take several more months, and is complicated by massive amounts of radioactive water that could soon leak into the sea....
Never mind all that already has or the radiation clouds that have circled the planet.
Workers have cooled the reactors and spent fuel by pumping in fresh water, which becomes contaminated with radiation. About 110,000 tons of tainted water have accumulated, and it could start overflowing in early July unless workers get a trouble-plagued water treatment system working properly.
The system became fully operational a week ago but shut down after a few hours when one of the radiation absorbing cartridges reached its limit much more quickly than expected....
See: Sunday Globe Special: Half a Loaf
Radioactivity inside the reactor buildings is too high for workers to take measurements there....
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