Tokyo ( CNN ) The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has given up trying to recover a robotic probe after it stopped moving inside one of the reactors . Tokyo Electric Power Company ( TEPCO ) deployed the remote-controlled robot on Friday inside one of the damaged reactors that had suffered a meltdown following a devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2011 . It was the first time the probe had been used . The robot , set out to collect data on radiation levels and investigate the spread of debris , stalled after moving about 10 meters , according to a statement released by TEPCO . A newly released report and footage from the robot shows that a fallen object had blocked its path and left it stranded . TEPCO decided to cut off the cable connected to the device Sunday as it had already covered two-thirds of the originally planned route . It managed to collect data on radiation levels in 14 of the 18 targeted locations . Four years after the devastating nuclear crisis , the radiation levels inside the three damaged reactors are still extremely high and remain unsafe for people to enter . Decommissioning work is estimated to cost $ 50 billion and will take years to complete . TEPCO called the robotic probe an `` unprecedented '' experiment . CNN 's Yoko Wakatsuki reported from Tokyo , Japan and Naomi Ng wrote from Hong Kong .
The operator of the TEPCO nuclear plant said it has abandoned a robotic probe inside one of the damaged reactors . A report stated that a fallen object has left the robot stranded . The robot collected data on radiation levels and investigated the spread of debris .