A bag of soil, slightly radioactive but decontaminated one from Fukushima, is delivered to the Japanese prime minister's office to be reused in the garden, in Tokyo. (Photo: AP)On a quiet corner of Japan’s political heart, a patch of lawn outside the Prime Minister’s Office is about to hold something unusual beneath its surface: soil that once bore traces of radiation. The government says it’s safe. But why is it being placed there at all?In a high-stakes public gesture, Japan’s Environment Ministry announced on Saturday that two cubic meters of decontaminated soil from Fukushima have been delivered to the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo. The soil, which is now only slightly radioactive, will be laid beneath part of the garden lawn to demonstrate its safety in real-world reuse.This is part of the government’s effort to promote understanding and demonstrate the soil’s safety in actual reuse, and no longer dangerous.The ministry clarified that the soil did not come from inside the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, but from surrounding areas that were cleaned up as part of an extensive decontamination effort following the 2011 disaster. The procedures follow guidelines approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency. (Photo: Kyodo News via AP)The installation follows years of heated debate over how to handle the roughly 14 million cubic metres of contaminated soil collected after the meltdown. That soil is currently stored in temporary facilities across Fukushima, and the government has pledged to dispose of it outside the region by 2045.According to the ministry, the foundation material will be buried and covered with clean topsoil thick enough to ensure radiation levels at the surface remain negligible.Also Read: | 13 years after meltdown, the head of Japan’s nuclear cleanup is probing mysteries inside reactorsThe procedures follow guidelines approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as per earlier reports by AP.Story continues below this adStill, public concerns remain. Earlier efforts to use similar soil in flower beds around Tokyo were scrapped after backlash. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi acknowledged these anxieties in May, calling for a government-wide effort to improve public understanding.Japan began releasing treated wastewater from the Fukushima plant into the Pacific Ocean last year as part of its broader decommissioning plans. It still has more than 880 tons of melted fuel debris needing to be removed, reported AP.(With inputs from AP)Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© IE Online Media Services Pvt LtdTags:Fukushima nuclear disasterJapan