James Martin/CNET For Fukushima's nuclear disaster, robots offer a sliver of hope On March 11, 2011, the worst nuclear disaster in history hit like a bomb. Even now, robots are just getting close enough to see how bad it really is. Roger Cheng Editor's note: This story originally ran on March 4, 2018, and we're reposting it for the 10th anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster to give readers a sense of the technology being employed to fix this enormous problem, which continues today. To learn more about the ongoing cleanup efforts, read Japan's earlier this month. My nose itches. I instinctively reach up, but my fingers, wrapped in three gloves — one made of cloth, two of latex — hit the clear plastic shield of my full-face respirator mask.