Colorado engineers are in Japan unpacking a giant robot they designed to help with the ongoing cleanup at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
The engineers work for California-based Kurion, a company that specializes in cleaning up nuclear waste, that has a robotics facility in Loveland, Colorado.
In March 2011, an earthquake and tsunami caused a meltdown at the nuclear power plant. At least 50 million people were evacuated from the area and 250,000 are still displaced with many living in temporary housing.
The robotic structure is about the size of a giant refrigerator and has a mechanical arm that reaches 16 feet vertically and 14 feet horizontally.Kurion is also involved in the cleanup of several other nuclear sites, including Hanford, the former nuclear weapons plant in central Washington State.
