The US government is sending a squad of robots to Japan to help regain control of the tsunami-damaged nuclear plant.
A top Energy Department official says a shipment of "radiation hardened robotics" will be sent to Japan to assist in the crisis.
Peter Lyons is the acting assistant energy secretary. He told a Senate panel that Japanese officials were "very, very interested" in learning more about the capabilities of US robots.
Lyons said the United States is also sending robot operators who would be used to train Japanese operators.
Robots with electronics built to withstand radiation could presumably work in areas where radiation levels would harm or even kill a person. Workers at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant have been exposed to high levels of radiation and burned.
