FUKUSHIMA, japan — Workers in rubber boots chip at the frozen ground, scraping until they’ve removed the top 2 inches of radioactive soil from the yard of a single home. Total amount of waste gathered: roughly 60 tons.
One down, tens of thousands to go. And because wind and rain spread radiation easily, even this yard might need to be dug up again.
The work is part of a monumental task: a costly and uncertain effort by Japan to try to make radiation-contaminated communities inhabitable again. Some contractors are experimenting with chemicals. Others stick with shovels and high-pressure water.
The radiation leak has slowed considerably at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, nearly one year after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami sent three of its reactors into meltdown. Work continues toward a permanent shutdown, but the Japanese government declared the plant stable in December, setting the stage for the next phase: decontaminating the area so at least some of the 100,000 residents can return.
Experts leading the government-funded project cannot guarantee success. They say there’s no prior model for what they’re trying to do. Even if they succeed, they’re creating another problem they don’t yet know how to solve: where to dump all the radioactive soil and debris they haul away.
For evacuees, a major step forward might come in the next few weeks, when officials hope to redefine the evacuation zone, possibly opening up some areas, based on radiation data.
The only parallel situation is Chernobyl in Ukraine, where the contaminated area remains off-limits nearly 26 years after the nuclear power plant exploded.
“They abandoned the land,” said Environment Minister Goshi Hosono. “We won’t give up. As long as there are people who want to return home, we’ll do everything we can to help.”
$14 billion
Funds the Japanese government have budgeted for radiation cleanup
2
Radioactive top soil, in inches, being removed across the region
130 million
Soil, in cubic yards, the Environmental Ministry expects the cleanup to generate — enough to fill 80 domed baseball stadiums
