"The excavators are still digging tirelessly. Anyone traveling in the region around the former Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which was hit by the triple disaster of an earthquake, a tsunami, and finally a major accident in March 2011, might think that a huge new development is being built here. But the region is still a long way from an influx of new residents or even the return of those who fled back then.
The excavators are still removing the top layers of soil and storing them in man-sized black plastic bags.
This is intended to reduce radioactive contamination in the region. According to the monitoring stations set up by the authorities in many locations throughout the region, this is working. But solving one problem leads to the next: What should we do with all the black bags, tens of thousands of which have accumulated over the years? In many places in the exclusion zone, they are simply still standing by the side of the road, and then they are all to be collected in large interim storage facilities around the nuclear ruins. There, the soil is roughly cleaned and then piled back into mounds in the bags. Trays underneath are intended to prevent radioactive water from seeping into the groundwater. A layer of soil over the bags is intended to reduce radiation to the outside.
Grass has literally grown over many of these mounds. But it won't stay that way. The Japanese government has promised the residents of the devastated region that the interim storage facilities are truly only a temporary solution. Before its accident, the nuclear power plant supplied electricity to large parts of the east coast, all the way down to Tokyo. Fukushima should not be left alone with the consequences of the accident. The area, once considered Japan's "fruit kingdom" with its lush peach orchards, should finally be able to shed its nuclear image and return to its former glory. Therefore, years ago, the government committed itself by law to distribute the contaminated soil to other parts of the country by 2045 at the latest – either in final repositories or by reusing it.
The only problem is: Nobody wants the earth. An unusual initiative by the government in Tokyo has now brought the issue back onto the national agenda. A small portion of the contaminated soil is to be used in the flowerbeds around Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's government residence. This is intended to show the Japanese that the government considers the earth safe and, in turn, pave the way for the next step: According to Tokyo's wishes, the enormous quantities of soil from Fukushima are to be used for construction projects across the country. Preferably as fill material in roads and railway embankments, but also in agriculture.
14 million cubic meters of soil have accumulated over the years. This could fill more than ten baseball stadiums, right up to the roof, as Japanese media like to calculate. The government in Tokyo has been trying for years to find buyers for the black bags somewhere in the country, so far without success. When it proposed using the soil in a popular park in the capital in 2022, protests quickly formed among residents. The project was rejected in parlament.
In a recent survey conducted by public broadcaster NHK in all 47 prefectures across the country, none of them expressed a willingness to accept the soil, either for reuse or as a final storage site. Some clearly opposed it, while most remained undecided.
The government now intends to try to change the minds of the regional administrations with additional scientific evidence and extensive educational efforts. "It is important to create a broader public understanding of the safety and usefulness of soil," said Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi when he presented the plans for the prime minister's beds last week. He assured that only low-level radioactive material would be used for such projects.
In a cabinet resolution, the government set the limit for the use of soil in public construction projects at 8,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram.
Akira Asakawa, who is monitoring the excavation work around Fukushima Daiichi for the Japanese Ministry of the Environment, emphasized to the news agency Jiji Press, that about three-quarters of the stored soil had a safe level of radioactivity. People standing directly on or working with it would be exposed to approximately the radiation of an annual X-ray. However, the plan is to cover the contaminated soil with layers of asphalt, agricultural soil, or other materials to further contain the radiation. In a test, the government built roads and fields in Fukushima using contaminated soil used as filler material. These sites did not show elevated radioactivity levels, and there was no leakage of radioactive material into the surrounding areas, Asakawa said.
The Japanese government has already experienced several times over the past year and a half that the legacy of Fukushima requires considerable diplomacy. The radioactively contaminated cooling water and wastewater that has accumulated on the power plant site since the nuclear disaster also ultimately has to be disposed of somewhere. In August 2023, the government began gradually discharging it into the Pacific Ocean in highly diluted form and received certification from the International Atomic Energy Agency that this practice is safe for humans and the environment. China, in particular, reacted with outrage and stopped all fish and seafood imports from Japan.
Here, too, the Japanese government has since attempted to demonstrate the safety of its water disposal with considerable symbolic politics. Then-Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and several cabinet colleagues repeatedly publicly ate sushi with raw fish from the Fukushima region. They endured some online ridicule for this: After all, the operator of the nuclear power plant in the comic series "The Simpsons" had already resorted to such advertising measures – and ate three-eyed fish from the waters of Springfield.” [A]
Radioactivity starts inducing cancers in population from the level zero. There is no safe level of radioactivity. We are all aging and become vulnerable at some age [B]. If Lithuania rushes to use not well tested technology of small nuclear reactors, a small portion of the contaminated soil is to be used in the flowerbeds around Prime Minister Paluckas’, President Nausėda’s and parliament speaker Skvernelis’ government residences. This is real leadership, not just stealing government money and taking other privileges.
A. Ein bisschen Fukushima für alle: Japans Regierung will die atomar belastete Erde im ganzen Land verteilen / Von Tim Kanning, Tokio. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung; Frankfurt. 03 June 2025: 6.
B. Radiation and Cancer: Studies of human populations exposed to ionizing radiation provide strong evidence that higher doses increase the risk of developing cancer later in life.
While some research suggests a very small, or even negligible, risk at low doses, the prevailing scientific consensus and the basis for radiation protection standards, like the Linear No-Threshold (LNT) model, is that any radiation dose carries some risk. This means the risk increases with the dose, and even small doses are considered to have the potential to cause a small increase in cancer risk.
No "Safe" Level in Theory: The LNT model is the most widely applied model for assessing radiation risk. It's based on the premise that any dose greater than zero can cause damage to DNA, increasing the probability of cancer. This doesn't mean every exposure will lead to cancer, but rather that the probability increases with increasing dose.
Vulnerability and Aging: As with many health issues, the effects of radiation can be influenced by age. Younger people, especially children, are more vulnerable to radiation damage because their cells are dividing rapidly. The elderly and those with compromised immune systems are also considered more susceptible.
Important points to consider:
Dose Matters: The amount of radiation received is a key factor in determining potential health effects. The concept that "the dose makes the poison" applies to radiation, meaning high doses are more dangerous than low doses.
Repair Mechanisms: The body has damage control systems that can repair some of the damage caused by radiation.
Regulations and Limits: Regulatory bodies like the EPA and OSHA set exposure limits and guidelines to protect the public and radiation workers, operating on the principle that doses should be kept as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA).
Natural Background Radiation: Everyone is exposed to natural background radiation from the environment daily. This is generally considered to be at a low level, and bodies are equipped to handle it.
In conclusion, while the LNT model suggests no absolute "safe" level of radiation exists, it's important to understand that the probability of harm increases with dose, and regulatory bodies work to minimize unnecessary exposure in smart countries. There is completely another way in countries like Lithuania.
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