Tiny robots could find nuclear plant leaks

Tiny robots could find nuclear plant leaks by Staff Writers Cambridge, Mass. (UPI) Jul 21, 2011

A spherical robot equipped with a camera may navigate underground pipes of a nuclear reactor by propelling itself with an internal network of valves and pumps. Image: Harry Asada/d'Arbeloff Laboratory.

Small, spherical robots with a camera could someday navigate the underground pipes of a nuclear reactor to check for corrosion or leaks, U.S. researchers say.
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said a recent study found three-quarters of U.S. nuclear reactor sites have leaked radioactive tritium from buried piping that transports water to cool reactor vessels, often contaminating groundwater.