The first photos of a radioactive nuclear reactor at the Fukushima nuclear plant that faced meltdown in the 2011 tsunami earthquake have been taken by a robot, which also found that the radiation at the reactor's epicentre can kill a human in under an hour.
Three of the six reactors at the Fukushima plant had been destroyed in the tsunami after a meltdown, prompting mass evacuation of more than three lakh people.
The Tokyo Electric Power Co had sent in a remote-controlled robot on Friday for the first time to study the melted reactors and get pictures, along with data on radiation levels and temperatures.
The company disclosed the findings on Monday, stating that radiation levels in the primary containment vessel of the No. 1 reactor are as high as 9.7 sieverts per hour, which can kill a person in no time, The Japan Times reported.
The company said that though the radiation levels were lower than estimated, they were still too high for humans to enter the area, even with protective suits.
The robot itself is said to have "died" after just three hours of surveillance, despite its capacity to last for at least ten hours.
TEPCO also released images taken by the robot as well as a short video of what looks like inside the melted reactors of the Fukushima plant.
