Fukushima robot video: First images inside reactor four years after nuclear disaster

Robot stalled inside just three hours into mission to detect radiation levels

This handout picture taken by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) on April 10, 2015 shows an image taken by a remote control robot inside the reactor vessel of the unit one building (AFP)

A small robot has filmed the first images from inside the melted Fukushima nuclear reactor, despite stalling inside just three hours into its mission.

The images have been obtained from inside the plant four years after cooling systems to its reactors were knocked out by an earthquake and a tsunami, causing a nuclear disaster and releasing radiation into the atmosphere.

The transformer probe was sent in to assess radiation levels as humans are still unable to enter, even in protective gear. The robot is designed to change shape depending on its surroundings and entered the containment chamber through a pipe.

1st time "Shape-changing" robot entering Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1 PCV. Information obtained from 14 of 18 checkpoints.A big step towards decontamination of Fukushima Daiichi NPS.

Posted by Tokyo Electric Power Company, Incorporated (TEPCO) on Monday, 13 April 2015

Additional reporting by AP