Considering how quickly the US military was able to deploy and utilize their flying intelligence drones in the area this week, I expect that extraordinary circumstances cut the amount of required paperwork extraordinarily.
It took a decade to develop and has been in use by the military since 2006. Its easy for the government to use what its already got, its very hard for them to start using something brand new, no matter how good it is.
But you couldn't be more right about the AR drone. I can't even get it to work in the back yard from the front. I think the point was, with all of the cool robotics floating around today, why isn't there a lot more of it at the reactor site helping out?
As for the government shortcutting paperwork in extraordinary circumstances, I think our performance after Hurricane Katrina probably best illustrates how we do with this:
"Hundreds of firefighters, who responded to a nationwide call for help in the disaster, were held by the federal agency in Atlanta for days of training on community relations and sexual harassment before being sent on to the devastated area. The delay, some volunteers complained, meant lives were being lost in New Orleans. "http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/11/national/nationalspecial/1...
Also, these AR Drones aren't up to the task.