Environment Low-level radioactive Fukushima soil used in flowerbeds at PM’s Office

Japan announced on Tuesday that it intends to reuse a portion of the slightly radioactive soil currently stored near the site of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in flower beds outside the office of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. The move is meant to demonstrate to the public that the soil is safe for reuse. The soil was initially collected from various parts of Fukushima Prefecture during extensive decontamination efforts following the 2011 nuclear accident and has since been kept in interim storage. According to officials, testing has shown that some of the soil has now reached radiation levels deemed low enough to permit reuse.

The government aims to reassure citizens about its safety by using soil from the Prime Minister's office in Tokyo. Authorities also plan to expand its use for similar purposes, such as landscaping, within other government facilities. The decision is based on safety guidelines established by the Environment Ministry in March and approved by the IAEA.

apan is stuck with large volumes of the dirt, chopped trees and other debris collected during intensive decontamination work. It has 14 million cubic meters of dirt and other materials — enough to fill 11 baseball stadiums — stored at a sprawling outdoor facility straddling the towns of Futaba and Okuma, near the Fukushima plant. The government is aiming to find disposal sites for the soil by 2045, with officials suggesting low risk material could be used to build roads and in other public works projects across the country. The Environment Ministry said that the soil will be used as foundation material and safely covered with top soil thick enough to keep radiation at negligible levels. But there is much public unease. The government has already been forced to discontinue a plan to experiment using some of the soil in flower beds at several public parks in and around Tokyo following protests.

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I was once given a small piece of what I was told 'Trinity Glass'; fused sand from the desert floor close to the first nuclear bomb testing site. In its little plastic vial, it just looked like dirty sugar granules that had become damp and stuck together. I wasn't convinced of its authenticity so borrowed my colleague's Geiger counter and pointed it at the substance. There was very little difference than to background radiation. My colleague suggested taking it out of the plastic vial and trying again. Well, the loud burst of white noise and clicks from the counter made me scream like a little girl, my colleague took several steps backward in horror , I hastily put the glass back in the vial and then ran to a sink and scrubbed my hands vigorously under a stream of water and soap!

It must've been beta radiation (fast moving electrons) which aren't very penetrative due to their low mass (9.11x10^-31kg) and only dangerous if ingested.

I have to say, that same colleague spilled a radioactive tracer liquid on his lab's bench (or rather his PhD student did under his supervision). Despite repeated cleaning over months and eventually by a specialist cleaning company they couldn't reduce the radioactivity to a safe level. In the end they took a circular saw to the area, chopped it out and threw it away!

Here's another horrifying bit of information. In a previous life when I ordered PET scans or other radioactive tracer imaging on patients, their urine and faeces had to be handled very carefully afterwards as they cleared the radioactive substance from their bodies over the course of 24 hours or whatever. The nursing staff had to wear gloves, aprons and be a lot more careful not to spill or splash the excreta when disposing of it. How did they dispose of it? They poured it down the toilet/sluice that takes in to the sewers and eventually to rivers and the ocean! Same for toxic chemotherapy-laden excreta! Now the massive dilution factor has been explained to me but even so.

Isn't excreta a great word?

The Romans had a god of the main sewer that ran through Rome and of toilets too. Her name was Cloacina and there was a little prayer to her to be recited in the smallest room of the house, to ensure optimal elimination and it supposedly went like this:

Oh Cloacina, goddess of this place,
Look upon thy supplicants with a smiling face.
Soft and yet cohesive, let their offerings flow,
Neither rashly swift, nor insolently slow.

Bit of culture for you there I'll go now…

Ukigumo said:

I was once given a small piece of what I was told 'Trinity Glass'; fused sand from the desert floor close to the first nuclear bomb testing site. In its little plastic vial, it just looked like dirty sugar granules that had become damp and stuck together. I wasn't convinced of its authenticity so borrowed my colleague's Geiger counter and pointed it at the substance. There was very little difference than to background radiation. My colleague suggested taking it out of the plastic vial and trying again. Well, the loud burst of white noise and clicks from the counter made me scream like a little girl, my colleague took several steps backward in horror , I hastily put the glass back in the vial and then ran to a sink and scrubbed my hands vigorously under a stream of water and soap!

It must've been beta radiation (fast moving electrons) which aren't very penetrative due to their low mass (9.11x10^-31kg) and only dangerous if ingested.

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Maybe Cesium 137? My physics professor had Cesium 137 encased in plastic pellets for teaching/experimental use. He had several warts/growths on his face and I wondered if all the radioactive substance handling had anything to do with it.