Fukusima cleanup

This is an outline of what the Japanese may do to dismantle the Fukushima plants. It isn't easy. Read it to get an idea of the problems.

I suspect the reporter missed something, though. The robots can't communicate wirelessly with the outside because of the amount of shielding in the way, and unspooling communication cables turns out to be fraught with tangles and snags. But prepping the site with re-transmitters should be relatively straightforward: robots drag in the systems while unspooling power cables behind them. Since the operators would know where to put the re-transmitters before planting them, there is no backtracking that would tangle the cables, and they could even plan ways to dress out the cables so they didn't get in the way of later robots. With enough re-transmitters the robots could be sent anywhere. Of course, all the hardware they put in will be activated and have to be disposed of later, but in the grand scheme of things that's a minor issue.

Yes, some stuff might have to hang from railings, and be battery powered (and therefore replaced regularly). It could still work, though.