Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. successfully removed a small amount of leftover nuclear fuel from reactor no. 2 of the nuclear power plant no. 1 Fukushima, Thursday.

The experimental removal is the first time debris has been taken since the 2011 nuclear accident at the plant. The remains will be analyzed and used as a reference for carrying out large-scale removal in the future.

According to TEPCO, the debris was stored in a small aluminum box in a metal enclosure connected to the reactor’s containment vessel on Wednesday. At around 11:40 a.m. on Thursday, the box was placed in a special resin container. At this time, TEPCO considers the disposal of the test to be complete.

The accident of the nuclear power plant no. 1 at Fukushima involved a meltdown of reactors no. 1, 2 and 3. An estimated 880 tons of debris were generated when the molten nuclear fuel was mixed with molten parts of the reactor structure. The remains are believed to measure about 5 millimeters and weigh less than 3 grams.

The waste sample is to be transported to the Japan Atomic Energy Agency’s institute in Ibaraki Prefecture, which will analyze the composition and hardness of the waste for several months to a year, and its findings will be used in the selection of methods and tools – the large-scale disposal of remains in the early 2030s.