Le blog de fukushima-is-still-news

April 18, 2018

Driverless bus runs in Fukushima Daiichi plant

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180418_30/

Japan's first self-driving bus service has begun at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant as decommissioning work continues at the facility.

The French-made electric bus was shown to reporters on Wednesday.

Passengers will be able to choose their routes from pre-registered courses listed on an onboard device. The bus uses GPS to navigate.

The vehicle can carry up to 15 passengers and has a maximum speed of 18 kilometers an hour. It has sensors to stop the bus if it gets too close to people or other vehicles. The bus is also programmed to stop in front of pedestrian crossings.

Officials of the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, say they are first running the vehicle on a 1-kilometer route between the plant's gate and its rest facility, then adding routes in stages.

They also say that for now, a staff member is riding the vehicle to enter destinations into the routing device.

Plant official Tetsunori Kobayashi says the service is part of efforts to carry out the decommissioning work safely and smoothly with the help of new technology.