Toshiba, the builder of the damaged reactor 3 building at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, is engineering a remote-controlled device to assist in cleanup efforts.The crane-like device will use two robotic arms to retrieve and dismantle debris from the spent fuel pool.

Radiation levels inside the building make it impossible for humans to safely monitor removal of the 566 fuel-rod assemblies. The crane-like device demonstrated in this video will do the heavy work, using two robotic arms to retrieve and dismantle debris from the spent fuel pool. Cameras will allow workers to see from multiple angles, enabling them to better control the device from a distance.

In December 2014, Tokyo Electric Power Co. finished removing 1,535 fuel rod assemblies from the pool in the reactor 4 building. For that job, low radiation levels allowed workers to stand near the pool itself to monitor the removal process.

The utility hopes to bring radiation levels down to 1 millisievert per hour — a rate still too high for long-term work at the reactor 3 site. Installation of a cover over the pool and set-up of the robotic device are planned for 2016. Training for workers to use the remote-control system is expected to begin in 2017.