A robot will soon attempt to remove melted nuclear fuel from the destroyed Fukushima reactor in Japan

TOKYO (AP) — The operator of Japan’s destroyed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant on Tuesday demonstrated how a remote-controlled robot would retrieve small pieces of melted fuel debris from one of three reactors damaged late this year for the first time. since 2011 collapse.

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings plans to deploy a “telesco-style” extendable tube robot at the Fukushima Daiichi No. 2 reactor to test removing debris from its primary containment vessel by October.

This work is more than two years behind schedule. Removal of the melted fuel was supposed to begin in late 2021 but has been plagued by delays, underlining the difficulty of recovering from the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

During the demonstration at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries shipyard in Kobe, western Japan, where the robot was developed, a device equipped with grippers slowly lowered itself from the telescopic tube into a pile of gravel and picked up a granule.

TEPCO plans to remove less than 3 grams (0.1 ounce) of debris in the test at the Fukushima plant.

“We believe that the upcoming Unit 2 fuel debris removal test is an extremely important step in steadily carrying out future decommissioning work,” said Yusuke Nakagawa, TEPCO group manager for the fuel debris recovery program. “It is important to proceed with test removal in a safe and steady manner.”

Around 880 tonnes of highly radioactive melted nuclear fuel remains inside the three damaged reactors. Critics say the 30- to 40-year cleanup target set by the government and TEPCO for Fukushima Daiichi is overly optimistic. Damage to each reactor is different and plans must accommodate their conditions.

Better understanding the remains of fuel melted inside the reactors is essential for their dismantlement. TEPCO deployed four mini drones on the No. 1 reactor’s primary containment vessel earlier this year to capture images of areas where the robots had not reached.

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AP video journalist Ayaka McGill contributed to this report.