PICTURES
A small army of robots is being increasingly deployed in the clean-up of a Scottish nuclear complex.
Like Wall-E, the star of the new Pixar animated film, the machines are tackling man-made waste.
The real-life robots have been working in highly radioactive areas of Dounreay in Caithness in the Highlands.
A spokeswoman said: "They have really proved themselves, particularly the semi-automatic ones that can be pre-programmed."
She said they were being used more and more in areas too hazardous for staff to work in and proving vital in the decommissioning of the former research site - clearing away highly radioactive waste.
The machines include ones which can be pre-programmed and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs).
The spokesman for Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) added: "Decommissioning these facilities is challenging, and an ideal environment in which to deploy remotely operated equipment."