OARAI, Ibaraki Prefecture – Two days before the start of a trial recovery operation for the debris from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, a facility for analyzing the material was shown to the media.

The Japanese Atomic Energy Agency opened the facility on August 20 to examine the melted nuclear fuel residue from one of the damaged reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

The laboratory will analyze the structure and properties of the debris using X-ray analysis equipment and an electron microscope.

The aim of the investigation is to determine the condition of the reactor at the time of the accident caused by the severe earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 and to assess the possibility of criticality.

The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., plans to remove several grams of debris from the nuclear power plant’s No. 2 reactor.

The removed debris is transported in a container designed to protect against high levels of radiation.

Using remote-controlled equipment, workers remove the debris from the container and analyze it while observing the process through a glass window.

The JAEA intends to compile the analysis results by the end of this financial year.

“Although the analysis is only a small part, we believe it will provide data that can reflect the conditions inside the reactor,” said Hideki Ogino, chief engineer at the JAEA’s Fukushima Research and Engineering Institute.

“We would like to contribute to the decommissioning of the reactors through further analyses,” he said.

The JAEA intends to use the analysis to develop future plans for large-scale debris removal.