The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has released videos of an initial phase trial to retrieve nuclear fuel debris from one of the plant’s crippled reactors.
Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, showed the footage on Thursday. The work began at the No.2 reactor on Tuesday.
This is the first attempt to remove fuel debris from the plant’s reactors since the meltdowns occurred following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Workers began inserting the retrieval device shaped like a narrow tube into a pipe that leads to the interior of the reactor containment vessel. The device is designed to lower a tool using a cable from its tip to take out several grams of debris from the bottom of the vessel.
One of the four cameras attached to the retrieval device showed the device slowly moving inside a pipe about 60 centimeters in diameter.
Another camera near the back of the device captured the image of a metal rod, which is the main part of the device, and cables nearby used for remote control.
TEPCO officials say the tip of the device passed through the pipe and went 90 centimeters into the containment vessel on Thursday morning.
The officials say workers will continue pushing the device further, and the process will take about two weeks to complete, even if the work goes smoothly.