Fukushima soil headed to Japan PM’s flower beds to allay nuclear safety fears

The Guardian :

Slightly radioactive soil from near the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant will be transported to Tokyo and used in flower beds in the prime minister’s garden, in an attempt to prove to a skeptical public that the material is safe.

The decision comes 14 years after the plant suffered a triple meltdown in the world’s worst nuclear accident since Chornobyl.

The sample will be taken from 14 million cubic metres of soil – enough to fill 10 baseball stadiums – that has been removed from near the plant during work to make local neighbourhoods fit for the return of evacuated residents.

Men wearing blue overalls stare at a grey picture feed on monitors
Robot retrieves radioactive fuel sample from Fukushima nuclear reactor site
The soil is in temporary storage at a vast site near the plant, but authorities have struggled to make progress on a legal obligation to find permanent homes for the material outside Fukushima by 2045.