Radioactive soil from Fukushima: flowers for central Tokyo?

Radioactive soil from Fukushima: flowers for central Tokyo?

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has presented a controversial plan: Contaminated soil from the Fukushima region will be used in flower beds in Tokyo. Dozens of bags of low-level radioactive soil were transported to Ishiba's official residence on Saturday and dumped in the front yard. This measure is intended to demonstrate that the Earth is harmless and that radiation levels are low.

The soil comes from the Fukushima region, which was taken after the devastating nuclear disaster in 2011. On March 11, 2011, the Fukushima nuclear power plant was hit by a tsunami, causing core meltdowns in three reactors. It was the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986. After the disaster, contaminated soil was scraped from large areas of land. Since then, around 14 million cubic meters of earth have been stored in storage facilities near the power plant.

Criticism and controversy

The Japanese government has set a goal of moving the stored earth to other parts of the country by 2045. But there is little interest from other regions in Japan in taking contaminated soil, either because of fears of radiation or a lack of trust in the safety of authorities. While the government says its radiation levels are comparable to annual X-ray exposure, environmental activists have raised concerns that such a practice is not only dangerous but also threatens public confidence in the safety of food and soil.

The operator of the nuclear power plant, Tepco, regularly published radiation measurements in connection with the disaster. These were recorded by mobile measuring stations every ten minutes, although eight fixed measuring stations on the landside boundary of the power plant were unavailable for two months after the power outage on March 11th. After the accident, measured values ​​showed dose rates of up to 11.9 mSv/h at the main gate of the power plant, a number that is well above normal values.

Long-term effects

Contamination from the Fukushima nuclear accidents is also impacting food production in the region. Bans on the sale and consumption of various foods were imposed in Fukushima Prefecture and also in Ibaraki. Water samples from the decay pools of the reactor blocks show high concentrations of radioactive substances, including plutonium-238. In addition, legal limit values ​​for radioactive substances in groundwater and seabed were exceeded.

On March 25, 2011, the European Union issued an emergency decree worldwide to declare a “radiological emergency situation”. This political and health crisis remains an important issue in Japan and beyond, as the country continues to deal with the consequences of the disaster to this day.