Latest news with #soil
The Sun
27-05-2025
- Health
- The Sun
Radioactive soil to be used for flowerbeds outside PM's office in Japan in divisive PR stunt after Fukushima disaster
RADIOACTIVE soil from Fukushima will be used outside Japan's government buildings in a bid to persuade the country that the soil is safe. Japan's government revealed the bold move on Tuesday, explaining it aims to ease fears about reusing soil from the disaster zone in public projects. 7 7 7 Low-level radioactive soil will be placed in flower beds and other areas on the grounds of government buildings, including the prime minister's office. This marks the first time the soil has been reused outside Fukushima Prefecture - the region devastated by the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said it's "important to secure a wider public understanding' of the safety and utility of the soil. But the move is controversial - previous attempts to use the soil in Tokyo and other parts of Japan were halted due to opposition. Three nuclear reactors at the Fukushima plant suffered fuel meltdowns and hydrogen explosions in 2011 after an earthquake and tsunami. As a result, a large amount of radioactive materials was released into the air, prompting more than 150,000 people to evacuate from the surrounding area. Around 494 million cubic feet of removed soil and other radioactive waste is being temporarily stored near the nuclear plant. The Japanese government is required by law to permanently dispose of the contaminated soil outside the prefecture by March 2045. Soil with over 8,000 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive caesium cannot be used in any works, as per government guidelines. But soil with low-level radioactivity is suitable for public works, the government claims. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) conducted three expert missions to assess Japan's safety request for using the soil -and after their review, approved the plans. What happened at Fukushima? On March 11, 2011, a major nuclear accident occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in northern Japan. It is considered the worst nuclear incident since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. The accident was triggered by a massive magnitude-9.0 earthquake off the coast of the Tōhoku region, followed by a powerful tsunami. The tsunami disabled the plant's cooling systems and the emergency backup generators. All three active reactors automatically shut down during the earthquake, as designed. But without power, cooling functions failed in the hours and days after. As a result, the reactor cores overheated, leading to partial meltdowns and hydrogen explosions. Significant amounts of radioactive material were released into the nearby environment, and radiation levels increased in food, water and the ocean. The government was forced to declare a 18-mile evacuation zone and over 150,000 residents had to flee. The long-term health effects of radiation exposure remain a topic of scientific debate. In 2013, the World Health Organization reported that the disaster was unlikely to cause any measurable increase in overall cancer rates. However, some studies suggest that young children exposed to radioactive iodine may face a slightly increased risk of thyroid cancer. Fear remains: despite the lifting of evacuation orders in many areas, most residents have chosen not to return. This comes as a rare glimpse inside Fukushima's exclusion zone was revealed by an urban explorer last year. Nuclear control rooms, hospitals and apartments are just some of the areas that remain abandoned and forgotten following the horrific event on March 11, 2011. After watching a documentary on the Fukushima nuclear disaster Lukka Ventures, 27, from Manchester, decided to explore the 'red zones' - sites that have been closed off - around the plant. Ventures visited abandoned hospitals, malls and apartments which he described as untouched by time. Earlier that year, drone footage revealed the first glimpse inside ground zero of the hardest-hit Fukushima reactor. The eerie video shows the melted wreckage alongside displaced control equipment, misshapen materials and blackened ladders. Photos released by the plant's operator are the first from inside the hardest-hit No. 1 reactor's primary containment vessel - an area directly under the reactor's core. Officials had spent years trying to reach the area to examine the core and melted nuclear fuel. Earlier attempts using robots were unsuccessful in reaching the area. 7 7 7
CNET
21-05-2025
- General
- CNET
The 9 Best Gardening Tools, According to a Master Gardener and a Horticulturalist
Handheld fork Schweiger finds a full-size garden fork to be useful for tasks like loosening soil and digging up potatoes but she can't say the same for handheld forks. "They always come in sets with trowels and I just never use them," she said. Dandelion weeder If you have a soil knife, you don't need a dandelion weeder. That won't stop companies from trying to sell you gadgets that look more like a fondue fork than a gardening tool. "If you need a weeding tool, get a hori hori knife, not a dandelion fork or other gimmicky weeding tools," Bunting told us. Store-bought soil tests Schweiger highly recommends testing the soil in any new gardening location for fertility as well as possible contaminants like lead, especially for urban gardeners. But the ones you can pick up at the hardware store aren't reliable. "Cheap, commercial soil tests are not particularly accurate," she said. "I always recommend getting a soil fertility test through an accredited lab." Universities like Penn State, Rutgers, the University of Massachusetts and others offer soil testing services by mail for a small fee. Self-watering pots For Bunting, gardeners are better off checking the soil moisture in potted plants than trusting self-watering pots, which typically have a reservoir for excess water and a wick that delivers it to the plant over time. "I've seen dozens of those," he said. "Not to say there isn't one that works but I've seen more failures than successes." Moisture meters Another water-related gadget that's not worth your money is a moisture meter, according to Schweiger. "I don't think a moisture meter is going to give you more information than you could get by digging down into the soil with your finger," she says. Sun Joe Power tools If you're pretty green in the gardening department, you probably don't need to add power tools to your list of startup gardening tools, Bunting said. However, if you're in the market for tools like leaf blowers, chainsaws or lawnmowers, he encourages people to choose battery-powered electric options over gas-powered models. "There's great battery-operated equipment nowadays for almost everything that you might need," he told us, noting that manufacturers often make rechargeable batteries that can be used interchangeably in different pieces of equipment in their product line. "I do have a leaf blower but it's battery operated so it doesn't require any fossil fuels or create noise pollution." Irrigation system "Everybody wants to install an irrigation system," Bunting says, but he recommends rainwater or hand-watering instead of sprinklers. "When the system goes in, it works, but inevitably, the system gets compromised or the plants grow up in such a way that when the sprinkler comes on, some plants get too much water and other plants don't get enough. It seems like a good idea but it's really not." Instead, make the most of water from rain or your hose by adding a few inches of organic mulch to the soil surface. That will help retain moisture, allowing you to go a little longer between waterings.
