JAPANESE OFFICIALS SAID TODAY that robots have detected high levels of radiation inside two badly damaged buildings of the six-unit Fukushima power plant.

It is the first time in over a month that officials have been able to inspect the damage to Units 1 and 3 at Fukushima, as radiation levels there are still too high for workers to enter.

Power to the plant’s cooling systems was shut down by last month’s earthquake and tsunami and within days, hydrogen explosions at those two units caused extensive damage which destroyed their roofs. The plant has since been found to be leaking radioactive substances.

Today, Hidehiko Nishiyama of Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said that the robots had taken readings for temperature, pressure and radioactivity, but radioactivity inside must be reduced before workers are allowed back inside.

This footage released by TEPCO and published by Russia Today shows severe structural damage to the outer buildings in which the nuclear reactors are housed:

Later today, the unmanned robots also gathered data on Unit 2. New readings from a water tank in this unit showed a severe spike in radiation levels, suggesting damage to the fuel rods inside the spent fuel pool for the first time since the crisis at the plant began.

Roadmap

Plant operators TEPCO yesterday announced a plan which should bring the stricken plant under control within six to nine months. Under that plan, the damaged reactor buildings will be covered up and their fuel will later be removed.

Today, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano said that the high radiaoactivity recorded by the robots was expected and he was sure that TEPCO had factored such levels into their roadmap for the plant’s complete shutdown.

During questioning by Japan’s parliament today, TEPCO’s Takeshi Makigami said that eventually people would have to re-enter the buildings as there was a limit to what robots could do.

Last week, the plant’s operators announced that they would offer people forced to evacuate from the area around the power station up to €8,350 in compensation per family, sparking anger among evacuees who feel the amount is inadequate.

Hundreds of police officers in protective suits have been combing the area close to the plant for bodies of the earthquake and tsunami victims. Around 1,000 people are thought to have died during the disasters in the vicinity of the power plant.

- Additional reporting by the AP