Science Daily December 12, 2019
After the Japanese authorities completed decontaminating of most of the affected area an international team of researchers (France, Canada, Japan) provided an overview of the decontamination strategies used and their effectiveness from approximately sixty scientific publications, with a focus on radiocesium. Radioactive cesium has a half-life of 30 years, it constitutes the highest risk to the local population in the medium and long term, as it can be estimated that in the absence of decontamination it will remain in the environment for around three centuries. In cultivated areas within the special decontamination zone, residential areas and areas further from the plant were treated. As far as woodland areas are concerned, only those that were within 20 metres of the houses were treated. The analysis recommends further research on: the issues associated with the recultivation of decontaminated agricultural lands, monitoring of the contribution of radioactive contamination from forests to the rivers that flow across the region, and the return of inhabitants and their reappropriation of the territory after evacuation and decontamination…read more. Open Access TECHNICAL ARTICLE