(Bloomberg) — Japanese utility Tokyo Electric Power Co. will begin a demonstration project as early as Thursday to remove a small amount of radioactive debris from its destroyed nuclear power plant in Fukushima.

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which suffered a meltdown following a major earthquake and tsunami in 2011, will begin experimental dismantling of reactor No. 2 on Aug. 22, provided required inspections are completed on time, a company official said at a news conference on Monday.

This is a step forward for the utility and the Japanese government, which estimates that it will take three to four decades to fully decommission the plant. Removing the deadly debris has proven difficult and required the development of a robotic arm that can fish out radioactive fuel, metal cladding and other structures from the reactor that have melted, cooled and solidified together. Tepco has delayed starting the process in the past.

According to estimates by the International Nuclear Decommissioning Research Institute, there are still about 880 tons of fuel left in the three reactors that suffered a meltdown. Less than three grams of debris will be recovered during the first demonstration.

A robotic arm that looks like a fishing rod is controlled from a remote room inside reactor No. 2 before a metal claw-like handle is lowered to retrieve a small amount of debris, the company said on its website. Tepco has chosen reactor No. 2 to demonstrate the method and plans to remove debris from reactors No. 1 and No. 3 in the future.

Cleanup at Fukushima, the site of the worst nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl accident in 1986, is estimated to cost around 23 trillion yen. Tepco also began discharging treated wastewater from the plant last year as part of its decommissioning efforts.

– With support from Takaaki Iwabu.

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