one of the memories that will always stay with me is our visit to the fukushima daiichi nuclear plants devastated by the great 2011 tsunami. today i have come to waseda university to meet a machine that was inspired by the fu kushima disaster. warec—1 is a big beast weighing more than 150 kilograms. each of its limbs stretches to more than one metre in length. the need to move across uneven terrain has caused roboticists to investigate many kinds of designs. and although robots with wheels or with snakelike bodies can handle tricky terrain, they're not so good when you need to get hands—on. after we reached the destination the robot has to perform, it has to do tasks like turning a valve or manipulation of switches or opening doors, something like this. it requires big power. in order to actually manipulate things, warec—1 would need additional hands or fingers of some kind. for now, the team are just investigating the best way to move. crawling low and slow over the rubble. i notice that it is notjust using its four legs, it's also using its belly. yes. so all the legs can come off t

one of the memories that will always stay with me is our visit to the fukushima daiichi nuclear plantdevastated by the great 2011 tsunami. today i have come to waseda university to meet a machine that was inspired by the fukushima disaster. warec—i is a big beast weighing more than 150 kilograms. each of its limbs stretches to more than one metre in length. the need to move across uneven terrain has caused roboticists to investigate many kinds of designs. and although robots with wheels or with snakelike bodies can handle tricky terrain, they're not so good when you need to get hands—on. after we reach the destination, the robot has to do — perform tasks, like turning a valve or manipulation of switches or opening doors, something like this. it requires big power. in order to actually manipulate things, warec—i would need additional hands or fingers of some kind. for now, the team are just investigating the best way to move. crawling low and slow over the rubble. i notice that it's notjust using its four legs, it's also using its belly. yes. this is a new locomotion style proposed by

earthquake off the north coast triggered a tsunami that devastated coastal areas and crippled the fukushima daiichi nuclear power plant three of its six reactors went into meltdown. well was a day that changed the nation will join our correspondent there in a moment but first let's look back at the disaster itself. but the earthquake on march eleventh twenty eleven was felt all across japan it was the strongest ever recorded in the country. within thirty minutes of the quake a giant tsunami overwhelmed the country's coast sweeping everything in its path. almost sixteen thousand people lost their lives. hundreds of thousands were made homeless. and that was before the flood caused the fukushima nuclear power plant to go into meltdown japan will be dealing with the consequences of that for decades. for more let's cross over now to japan where did i hear derleth standing by for us here good to see you how is this anniversary being marked in japan today. well at two forty six pm exactly japan time that's when the earthquake struck there was an official ceremony held in tokyo and the moment of silence w

the tsunami killed more than eighteen thousand people it also caused a nuclear meltdown at the fukushima daiichi power plant it was one of the worst nuclear accidents on record a sizeable zone of the countryside near the power plant remains off limits to this day cleaning up the radioactive contamination will take decades. let's get more on the story now with sean bernie he is a senior nuclear specialist with green peace germany thanks so much for joining us you recently visited fukushima what was your impression of how things are there right now how's the region recovered in the last eight years. well it's important to distinguish the very complex situation but a large part of fukushima the people are just trying to get on with their lives and rebuild eight years after the tsunami and earthquake and nuclear disaster but in the areas that were most contrary to this is hundreds of square kilometers radiation levels we measured over thousands of measuring points are still far too high for people to live there and yet the japanese government has lifted the so-called evacuation orders for significan

this tsunami killed more than eighteen thousand people and caused a nuclear meltdown at the fukushima daiichi power plant it was one of the worst nuclear accidents on record. now a sizable zone of the countryside near the power plant remains off limits to this day cleaning up the radioactive contamination will take decades despite that people are trying to rebuild their lives and livelihoods. the guests have arrived in fukushima they've come for an eco friendly home stay at local farms in the west of the prefecture. the tourist association rep tells the travellers that not only can they expect excellent treatment from their hosts they don't need to worry about radioactivity either. mr and mrs cooper gnocchi are over the moon about development they'll soon be looking after two young americans in their home. the right of light for their village after years of darkness not many people around here can live off agriculture anymore prices for vegetables from fukushima have hit rock bottom. even though these fields are one hundred forty kilometers away from the wrecked reactor and shielded from it b

one of the memories that will always stay with me is our visit to the fukushima daiichi nuclear plantcome to waseda university to meet a machine that was inspired by the fukushima disaster. warec—1 is a big beast weighing more than 150 kilograms. each of its limbs stretches to more than one metre in length. the need to move across uneven terrain has caused roboticists to investigate many kinds of designs. and although robots with wheels or with snakelike bodies can handle tricky terrain, they're not so good when you need to get hands—on. after we reach the destination, the robot has to do — perform tasks, like turning a valve or manipulation of switches or opening doors, something like this. it requires big power. in order to actually manipulate things, warec—1 would need additional hands or fingers of some kind. for now, the team are just investigating the best way to move. crawling low and slow over the rubble. i notice that it's notjust using its four legs, it's also using its belly. yes. this is a new locomotion style proposed by us. it's quite difficult, even for a human to along

one of the memories that will always stay with me is our visit to the fukushima daiichi nuclear plantain has caused roboticists to investigate many kinds of designs. and although robots with wheels or with snakelike bodies can handle tricky terrain, they‘re not so good when you need to get hands—on. after we reach the destination, the robot has to perform, tasks, like turning a valve or manipulation of switches or opening doors, something like this. it requires big power. in order to actually manipulate things, warec—1 would need additional hands or fingers of some kind. for now, the team are just investigating the best way to move. crawling low and slow over the rubble. i notice that it‘s notjust using its four legs, it‘s also using its belly. yes. this is a new locomotion style proposed by us. it‘s quite difficult, even for a human to along this place. but if a robot moves with a crawling motion, that will be very stable because its belly is almost on the ground. so it has a very low centre of mass. spikes on the belly help to stop it slipping on the rubble and also help it grip ont