Japan’s much-vaunted robots may play violins and build cars, but the only ones now doing emergency work in its biggest-ever nuclear disaster are foreign, such as the PackBot, previously used in Afghanistan, which is made by Massachusetts-based iRobot.

The precursor to the Japan Atomic Energy Agency came up with several nuke bots, including RaBot, a rolling, double-armed robot that was resistant to radiation and could open and close valves while operating under remote control.

In the continuing cleanup of Three Mile Island, several "nukebots" are used to measure radiation levels, pick up sludge from the bottom of the reactor and remove it for analysis. They also can drill holes in concrete walls and flooring to determine the amount of radiation contamination.