Robots sent into a damaged nuclear plant do not get to treat wind or vibration as minor inconveniences. BeABLE, a Fukushima-based company, plans to build a facility in Futaba to develop and test machines for work in places where radiation keeps people at a distance.
A factory for hazardous work
The planned facility will cover about 3,000 square meters at an industrial reconstruction center in Futaba, where Fukushima Daiichi is located. BeABLE expects it to begin operating in March 2027.
The company plans to develop and manufacture large robotic equipment there, recreate conditions encountered during plant decommissioning, and test autonomous control systems. A separate area will be set aside for autonomous transport trials.
BeABLE says it wants to use physical AI, which it describes as systems that let robots perceive their surroundings, make decisions, and act in the real world. The practical question is not whether a robot can appear autonomous in a demonstration. It is whether its equipment can keep working when the environment is unpredictable.
Lessons from dismantling a stack
BeABLE’s push into robotics grew out of its work after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi accident. In 2019 and 2020, the company remotely dismantled an exhaust stack about 120 meters tall, located between the plant’s first and second reactor units.
Radiation levels meant workers could not remain at the structure, so BeABLE had to develop and operate its own cutting equipment. Wind and vibration caused problems during the work, and engineers repeatedly modified the system before completing the dismantling.
That experience gives the company a concrete starting point, but it is not the same as having already built autonomous robots for every task. The new site is meant to support development and testing, rather than serve as proof that the harder problems have been solved.
A long job still ahead
Work at Fukushima Daiichi still includes removing melted nuclear fuel and spent fuel from damaged reactor units. Both tasks require remote equipment, and BeABLE hopes its new facility will help turn robotics technology into practical tools for such sites.
The company also wants Fukushima to become a center for developing physical AI for nuclear accident cleanup. That ambition will depend on whether systems tested at the facility can handle the conditions found at the plant. In this line of work, autonomy is not a party trick. It is a way to keep people away from places they cannot safely enter.