Remediation of paddy soil contaminated by radiocesium in iitate village in fukushima prefecture

Abstract

Paddy soil freezes during winter in Iitate village. The frozen soil is as hard as asphalt, and local farmers can easily peel a plate of frozen soil using an agricultural machine. The radiation level in the ground surface was demonstrated to reduce from 1.28 to 0.16 μSv/h by stripping the frozen soil in field experiments. In this chapter, two remediation methods have been introduced and the collaboration between researchers, volunteers, and farmers in Iitate Village has been discussed.