Fukushima earth for flower beds: government dares risky plan!

Fukushima earth for flower beds: government dares risky plan!

Fukushima, Japan - The Japanese government plans to use Earth from the surrounding area of ​​the Fukushima accident reactor for flower beds in front of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's office. The aim of this measure is to convince the public that part of the ground taken after the nuclear disaster from 2011 can be reused. This reports Remszeitung .

The plan is based on guidelines of the Ministry of the Environment, which were previously approved by the international atomic energy authority. However, the circumstances around Fukushima are still worrying. Large areas around the nuclear power plant were radioactive in the reactor disaster. So far, only 15 percent of the contaminated area has been decontaminated, whereby the costs for decontamination were estimated at around 240 billion euros by 2021, so Greenpeace .

challenges of decontamination

The decontamination is extremely complex and ineffective. A five centimeter thick layer of earth is removed and stowed in plastic bags. Nevertheless, there is no guarantee that the areas that are considered cleaned are actually safe, since contaminated particles from the surrounding area can continue to reach these regions. In addition, several million tons of nuclear waste are stored in the region, including in over 140,000 locations, whereby often also stored in residential areas or on the side of the road.

The government has the plan to clean the region within 30 to 40 years, but there is no realistic plan for permanently secure disposal of the nuclear waste. This problem is reinforced by the human rights conditions of the decontamination work, since workers are often recruited from the poorest conditions without sufficient information about the dangers of work. The UN Commission for Human Rights already criticized the Japanese government in 2018 for dealing with this worker.

Use of fukushima earth

The latest plan to use Earth from the Fukushima region for flower beds and other purposes on the premises of government agencies became necessary after protests against the use of Fukushima floor in public parks in and around Tokyo. The government agencies want to venture a new approach. The Ministry of the Environment also suggests that the material is used in the construction of foundations, which is to be covered with top floor to reduce radiation to a negligible level.

The circumstances of the nuclear disaster are still present. The operating company Tepco regularly publishes radiation measurements on the grounds of the power plant. The radiation exposure is measured in microsievers per hour (MSV/H) and shows that despite the spatial separation between the power plant and the surrounding area, there are still high values. Environmental protection in the region remains a pressing challenge that needs to be mastered.