I have worn plenty of protective suits in my time but they have always been to protect the environment from my body. This time, its different. Ive come to one of the most infamous locations on earth. Until 2011, few people had heard of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in North Eastern japan. Then, the largest earthquake in japanese history changed everything. The resulting tsunami killed more than 20,000 people and the iii metre wave overwhelmed fukushimas flood defences. Ironically, it was the power stations cooling system that was flooded and when it shut down, the radioactive fuel rods began to overheat and melt down. They reacted with the steam around them, filling units one, two, three and four with hydrogen gas which then exploded. 6. 5 years on, the melted radioactive fuel remains somewhere inside these buildings. Humans cant go anywhere near that fuel, so robots are being used first to try and find it and then eventually to remove it. And today, weve been given rare access to the site to help us understand just how hard thatjob is. Translation in order to work out how to decommission the reactor and remove the fuel, we have to survey and understand the state of the interior. Only then will we know what kind of tools or machines we need to develop. Probably the most important thing i can carry dosimeter. It tells me how much radiation im exposed to. The Tokyo Electric Power company, tepco, is keen to show us and, i guess, the world how much of the radioactive debris has now been removed, and how its now possible to walk around most of the site without too much protective clothing. But to really understand the challenge the robots face in finding and removing the melted radioactive fuel, we do need to suit up. We are going inside unit five, which is identical to the units which were wrecked by the explosions. As you can imagine, it is really hot inside these suits. Its a confusing jumble of walkways and machinery and its difficult to appreciate that somewhere in here is a 7 storey high tank of water called the primary containment vessel, the pcv. And now its time to go right underneath the reactor. Oh, wow they think what happens after the meltdowns is that the molten fueljust burns through the bottom of the pcv and comes down here onto whats known as the pedestal. Thats where they think the fuel is now. Its difficult enough getting around this place on foot. Now imagine trying to Remote Control a robot through this after the whole place has been mangled by an explosion. Oh, yes and do it in the dark. Each of the reactors suffered different damage. Some are still full of water, some are dry, and so toshiba has built a special robot for each one. As important as how they move about is how they get in in the first place. Translation we need something that could fit through an existing Service Hatch. Thats the reason we made small robots. This is scorpion. Its mission was to hunt for fuel in unit two. Now, time is of the essence for any fukushima robot the radiation will eventually damage and disable its cameras, rendering it useless. But the entire mission can also be upset by something far more basic. This is Service Hatch x6 and in unit two, they were hoping to send the scorpion robot down this ramp to film the molten fuel at the bottom but it got caught halfway down and never made it, so they did not get any footage evidence of where the fuel was. So they did not get any footage or any evidence of where the fuel was. In unit three, the water is much higher so they had to think of another way to get a robot in to film what was going on and that is where the mini sunfish came in. Well, actually, thats where the mini sunfish came in. Built to fit through this 15cm pipe, mini sunfish is a tiny underwater robot with five propellers, two cameras, and four human operators. 300km away from fukushima in toshibas yokohama r d centre, i came face to face with the star of the investigation. After two months of practice in a duplicate of the flooded pedestal, injuly this year, mini sunfish was successful in finding melted clumps of material that could be fuel debris on the pedestal in unit three. One of the reasons there is so much water in the reactor buildings is because groundwater is leaking in and it needs to be pumped out. The problem is it cant be pumped out into the sea. Theres still about 150 tons of groundwater leaking into the site every day, and although they can use some of that to cool the fuel rods, it all gets contaminated, so they need to store the excess in these tanks. Each one holds 1,200 tons of water and there are currently 900 of these tanks here. Its obviously impossible to keep building these tanks at the rate of one every eight days. I dont know what they are going to do with them ever. So how do you stop groundwater from leaking in in the first place . Well, you build an ice wall. Pipes of coolant have been inserted 30m into the ground and theyre gradually freezing the soil and stopping anything from seeping through. It sounds completely nuts, but how else would you do it . That is an ice wall underground having been criticised in the early stages, it now seems that tepco is working hard to make fukushima state. Safe. Its rebuilt and reinforced working areas, sealed the soil in concrete and reduced radiation levels. In our 11 hour visit, we received the radiation dose equivalent to four dental x rays. But there is such a long way to go. Decommissioning the site could take a0 years and it may cost 8 trillion yen. The human cost is more difficult to quantify. The exclusion zone has left many people homeless, unable to stop nature from reclaiming their post apocalyptic ghost towns. They cant go back until the radioactive fuel is recovered. Those little robots have a lot riding on their tiny backs. They say injapan you are never more than six feet away from a robot. Ok, actually, they dont say that, but it does feel like it. And behind many ofjapans most iconic creations are two robot visionaries. Hello, everybody. This is professor hiroshi ishiguro. And this. Hello, everybody. I am a geminoid. I am a copy of professor hiroshi ishiguro. Geminoid hill is a robot created by professor ishiguro in his own likeness and has even been used to fill in for him during lectures that he couldnt attend. We are looking for the definition of humans by creating a very human like robot, so that is ourfinal goal. Our purpose is not just to develop a robot but to understand the human itself. The lab has developed a number of human like robots, from receptionists to schoolteachers, and is looking at how to create empathy between humans and robots. Hiroshi believes that soon we may see far closer relationships between us and our electronic counterparts. Of course, we want to give human rights to the robot. Then the robot is going to be our partners and therefore, if people want to have a marriage with a robot, we should allow it. We might find humanities in the robot. We believe this is our futures. Thank you so much. But not everyone is trying to build robots in our own image. This is professor Tomotaka Takahashi and this is his lab at tokyo university. Hes been designing robots for decades. If technology was no object, where would you like to see robotics head 7 robots for communication can be interfaced between human beings and other devices, so internet or services. So we all have our own tiny robot, likejiminy cricket in pinocchio. Its so stupid to put everything together. We dont do toaster and toilet and car together. That sounds like an inspired combination. A toilet and a toaster and a car. Im going to the patents office. So tiny might be the aim but that does not mean these robots are all looks. This is one of his latest projects, robohon, released last year. Its a tiny robot that is also a phone. Hello and a projector. So its a projector . And you keep it in your pocket. There is a clip. Theres a clip oh, i did mention it also dances, didnt i . This is a very practical. Yes, and sophisticated. Sophisticated and easy to carry around. Not so easy to carry around. Twice as expensive as iphone. Right, ok. So how do you think people will be persuaded to switch a black rectangle for a robot . Actually, smartphone is so sophisticated and its almost perfect but there is only one shortcoming, which is siri. Siri is so smart but people dont use that in daily life but we can talk to a pet fishy or turtle or even teddy bear, but the problem is, it has square shaped like this. If it has an animal shape, a human shape, we are willing to talk to them. If we are going to talk to our devices as if theyre humans, then it would certainly help if they look a bit more humanoid and if we want to do that any time soon, then it may be that little guys like these are the answer. Hello, and welcome to the week in tech. It was the week that Mark Zuckerberg apologised for using hurricane damage in puerto rico as a backdrop for showing off facebooks new vr function. This is in the same week that he announced his hopes to take vr mainstream to a billion people with the launch of oculus go, a 200 standalone vice. A new generation of tamagotchi has been announced. 20 years on from the original battery operated pet craze, a smaller, simpler version bringing nostalgia and pointlessness to 2017. And microsoft say windows 10 phones are no longer their focus, with no more hardware will feature is being developed. Orfeatures being developed. Having only claimed 0. 3 of the phone market, its probably is not much of a surprise. What had been claimed to be the largest ever Energy Generating walkway has been built at the berlin festival of light. The 26 square metres of path converts footsteps into off grid electrical energy. And finally, mits Computer Science and ai lab has developed a way to see around corners using a smartphone. Itll detect an object or person through the light reflection that they produce. The aim is that it could help self driving cars or even search and rescue teams. Also handy for playing hide and seek. Atjapans olympic training h0, a top secret project is finally unveiled. Any guesses . Yes ladies and gentlemen, i give you block machine the volleyball playing robot. Over engineered . I will let you judge. But it is hard to not appreciate the ambition. And here, wheres its normally used to put the youth female Volleyball Team through their paces, they say it solves a crucial problem they face. Translation after winning bronze in the london olympics, we aimed for gold in rio. We came third in the world games, yet were the smallest in height. We wanted to give them the ability to practise against taller players. That is the use of the machine. With not enough tall women to practise against, the university designed the robot and the interface which lets you simulate the speed, height, and typical formations of Different International teams. And it has proved invaluable. Translation without the block machine, our players would not have had much practice against taller players. It contributed to the bronze medal in the championship. There are plans ultimately to use Computer Vision to have the team respond automatically to play, but right now, well, the machine respond automatically to play, but right now, well, it is still one of the best video games i have played for a while. Oh, yes it is a Remote Controlled robot, i get to choose where the hands go, left, right, middle, and how many hands. Bad timing. Oh, what . of course, volleyball is not the only thing getting a technological boost in the run up to the tokyo 2020 games, as dan simmons has been finding out. Tokyo 2020. While the city will no doubt put on a brilliant olympic games, Yoshiaki Sawabe is not so sure when it comes to the paralympics. And that is worrying, because he is one of the organisers. So, he has built this. And it really is a workout for the upper body. Well, i guess it depends on how much you put into it. I am moving to the right hand side of the course. It is an exhilarating ride. And 3,000 people have already tried it out since the spring. Outside the office, we caught up with the team at the ceatec expo. This is another paralympic event that can be played by competitors with varying degrees of disability. But again, it is able bodied people that they want to get interested in the sport. It has been a highlight of paralympics in the past. He has got three years to raise its profile to the japanese public. This is a half sized automated version of the game space. Sensors keep track of the balls. It isa it is a game similar to balls. Bowls. The flashing lights and automated scoring helps to draw players in. And the company is in talks with arcades, shopping centres, he has been in a wheelchairfor 20 years, so i asked him if tokyo welcomed other wheelchair users. Downstairs, i am being scanned in 3d, as tech specialist, michael, is showing me the new toy of the company. They want to work out what makes a winning performance. This new kit can capture all athletes at their best and dissect exactly the movements they used to win. But remember, entertainment is as important to these guys as learning, so they have given me a few new moves. Im not sure if it is good enough for the gold, though. For the last leg of ourjapan trip, we wanted to show you something of a japanese tradition happening deep in the countryside, far away from the blade runner streets of tokyo. It is sunday morning, and at this high school in the small town of tendo, dozens of pupils have gathered for a sumo match. Of course, thats robot sumo. Yep, today, i have come to watch a regional heat of a National Competition which is now in its 25th year. And with several spots up for grabs in the final, nothing is being left for chance. The winner is the first robot to get the other one out of the ring twice. If that hasnt happened in three minutes, the winner is the first to get one point. Though, if a robot flips over or stops working, the match is over, or maybe they are given extra time if its really fun. Youll get the idea. They cant even push them across the floor. How is this going to work . The rings are made of steel. And the sumo bots have really strong magnets to simulate the mass of real sumo wrestlers to give them the best chance of not being flipped. But the fact the umpires need to wear shin guards probably tells you that this doesnt always work. Here we go yeah. Its quick. And the reason is that once the bots are left alone, these matches are taking place entirely autonomously. These machines are attempting to out think and out sense each other in the blink of an eye. Someone who knows how best to gain those little advantages is this 17 year old, amane mori. Her dad came second in the very first robot sumo competition. Last year, she came third. Translation i am trying hard to beat my fathers record. That is what i am aiming to do. He had a big influence on me. Tactics include having a black bot, which is harderfor your opponents sensors to see. You could also have a preprogrammed strategy. The programming needs to be superior to win. But i think having the best blade is the most important feature. Here she goes. I am no expert, but that doesnt smell good. But in the second round, her expertise starts to show. As the day goes on, she conquers all before her. Untiljust before the final, she crashes out. Translation there is a strategy called feint when you back off before you go in, but the timing was off and the bot went too early. Win or lose, of course, over the years, this competition has given thousands of students invaluable experience in robotics and programming. And of course, when you do get knocked out, you can still enjoy everyone elses smash ups wow, what an exhilarating way to end this trip to japan. Now, you will find loads of extra photos from ourjourney on twitter, bbcclick. We are also on facebook. Thank you so much for watching, and we will see you soon. Good morning. Well, after hitting category 3 status on saturday, a rarity for the eastern atlantic, hurricane ophelia here on the chart to the south of the azores will weaken as it pushes towards our shores in the next 2a hours. But it is already having an indirect impact. Because to the west of it, whilst dragging cold air to the atlantic, to the east warm air is being pushed in our direction. Muggy conditions out there at the moment. We start the day with temperatures widely the teens. Conditions still warmer than it should be at this time of year across the northern scotland. Wet and windy here, with gales around the hebrides. Windy start in scotland and ireland, with outbreaks of rain becoming more extensive throughout the day, but not as heavy as we start with. South and east, lots morning cloud, fog in the hills, but that will break up later. After the wet start it will dry up in the hebrides. The winds will ease down. Across scotland, lots of cloud, with the occasional rain. Same too in Northern Ireland. There could be a splash of rain in cumbria by the time we hit mid afternoon, but much of england and wales will be dry. Breeziest west, with nothing untoward at all. But cloudier compared to some eastern areas. Where the cloud breaks, temperatures will be above what you see here. Maybe as high as 23 celsius in one or two spots. That is where should be at the stage in october. By monday morning, hurricane ophelia is getting closer. No longer a hurricane, but will still be a substantial storm, the core of which likely to affect the republic of ireland. Southern and Western Areas in particular. We will see winds strengthen through the morning, particularly around irish sea coasts, the celtic coast as well. The Northern Ireland could see damaging and destructive winds of 70 or even 80 miles an hour. Later during the day, a cool day in the north. Further east, a bit of a breeze, but not a bad day. Temperatures could reach 23 or 24. Monday night into tuesday, the centre of a low pressure system as it is scotland with heavy rain hit throughout the night. Strongest of the winds in the south of scotland and Northern England as we go to Tuesday Morning rush hour. That could have an impact. You can see that low pressure pushing eastwards throughout tuesday. So the rain eases off and brightens up. The further south you are, the more pleasant it will be. Temperatures in the high teens. This is bbc news. Im gavin grey. Our top stories Harvey Weinstein has been ousted by the board that runs the oscars the academy said he longer merited the respect of his colleagues. Distressing details emerge after a canadian couple are released after five years held hostage in afghanistan. It will be of incredible importance to my family that we are able to build a secure sanctuary for our three surviving children to call home, to focus on edification and to try to regain some portion of the childhood that they have lost. More people have been forced to leave their homes by wildfires in california at least a0 people are known to have died. And touchdown as one of the worlds most isolated outposts joins the 21st century