Japan's Fukushima reactor is set to undergo a groundbreaking operation as a robot will attempt to extract melted nuclear fuel from the facility

 Japan's Fukushima reactor is set to undergo a groundbreaking operation as a robot will attempt to extract melted nuclear fuel from the facility.

On Tuesday, the operator of Japan’s wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant showed how a remotely controlled robot will later this year attempt to recover small pieces of melted fuel from one of three reactors that have been shut down since the 2011 meltdown.

Japan's nuclear power plant operator showed Tuesday how a remotely controlled robot will be used to remove small pieces of melted fuel from one of the three reactors damaged by the 2011 meltdown later this year. The company, Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings (TEPCO), plans to deploy the "telescope-style" extendable pipe robotic system into the second reactor at Fukushima Daiichi (No. 2) to test its ability to remove debris from the primary containment vessel (PCV) by October. The work has been delayed for over two years, with the first attempt to remove melted fuel from the third reactor (No. 1) due to begin at the end of 2021.

At the demonstration Tuesday at the shipyard in the western Japanese city of Kobe where the robot was developed, a robot with tongs descended from a telescopic pipe onto a pile of gravel and lifted a granule of material.

"We consider the upcoming test fuel debris removal from Unit 2 to be an essential step to ensure a steady stream of future decontamination work," said Yusei Nakagawa of TEPCO's Fuel Debris retrieval program. "It is essential to continue the test removal in a safe and consistent manner."

The three damaged reactors contain around 880 tonnes of highly radioactive, melted nuclear fuel. Some critics argue that the 30-to-40-year cleanup goal set by TEPCO and the government for Fukushima is overly ambitious. The damage to each reactor is unique and plans must be tailored to their specific circumstances.

To gain a better understanding of the melt fuel debris inside the reactors, TEPCO used four mini drones to enter the primary containment vessel of reactor No. 1 earlier this year. The drones were used to take pictures of the areas that robots had not been able to reach.