\ndistrict where decontamination has been completed, and the
\nreintroduction of life to the area has been a slow process, with
\nthe first school opening last August, alongside permission being
\ngranted for visits to family graves.
![\"Residents](\"http:\/\/rt.com\/files\/news\/1f\/21\/20\/00\/rtr2lgjw.jpg\")
<\/p>\nFarmers in Fukushima have started planting rice in the former radioactive no-go zone, as close as 15 km from the TEPCO plant which suffered a meltdown in March 2011. They intend to sell the grain for mass consumption.<\/p>\n
The first sowing was on Saturday in Tamura\u2019s Miyakojimachi
\ndistrict which had been part of the Fukushima evacuation zone-
\nwhere locals are still banned from staying overnight. Three farms
\nhave plans to seed six hectares.<\/p>\n
Immediately following the accident, the area was completely
\nsealed off, but day-visits without authorization became possible in
\nApril last year.<\/p>\n
Local farmer Tsuboi Hisao reported \u201csome honest anxiety,\u201d to the
\nOkinawa Times as he laid one of the first seedlings in the
\nground.<\/p>\n
Because locals are banned from remaining in the area overnight,
\nHisao is concerned about having to leave his temporary base to tend
\nhis crops at 4.a.m. and is pessimistic about whether he will be
\nable to keep it up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to ask the municipal authorities to allow me to stay
\nat my own house for several days a week,\u201d<\/i> Hisao told the Japan
\nTimes.<\/p>\n
Farmers will use fertilizer containing potassium on the crops, in
\norder to counterbalance any remaining radioactive caesium which
\ncould be absorbed by the plants.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The radioactive isotope of caesium is produced through the
\nnuclear fission of the element and has a half-life of 30 years,
\nmaking it extremely toxic.<\/p>\n
In January, it was reported that levels of caesium in seafood
\naround the disaster area had not decreased since 2011. The same
\nmonth, a fish was caught at a port in the area which contained over
\n2,500 times Japan’s legal limit for radiation.<\/p>\n
All of the rice will be monitored for radiation levels prior to
\nshipment across the country.<\/p>\n
The 9.0 earthquake in 2011, which triggered a tsunami and caused
\nnuclear meltdown at Japan\u2019s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant
\nkilled at least 16,000 people.<\/p>\n
A further 87,000 people within a 20km-radius of the plant were
\nforced to evacuate their homes because of the possibility of
\nradiation poisoning.<\/p>\n
In the effort to rid the Tamura region of its high
\nradioactivity, buildings had been doused with high-pressure water,
\nand earth and plants have been removed from the affected
\nareas.<\/p>\n
Levels in the Miyakoji district were reported to be as high as
\n0.7 \u00ce\u00bcSv\/h (micro Sieverts per hour) in March by Global Post \u2014 three
\ntimes the eventual government target of 0.23 \u00ce\u00bcSv\/h.<\/p>\n
Workers spent time drilling into the earth, put it in waste
\nsacks, and adding a new layer of topsoil from non-contaminated
\nareas.<\/p>\n
By Monday, readings for Miyakoji from Japan\u2019s Nuclear Regulation
\nAuthority stood at 0.182\u00ce\u00bcSv\/h, meaning that the area was below
\ngovernment targets, at 15.95 mSv\/y (milli-Sieverts per
\nyear).<\/p>\n
The average human being absorbs around 2.4 millisieverts (mSv)
\nof radiation a year from nature and their surroundings.<\/p>\n
In comparison, Chernobyl\u2019s Monday radiation levels stood at 0.19
\n\u00ce\u00bcSv\/h. Ukranian officials last year began to consider growing crops
\nin the 30 – km evacuation zone around the site of the 1986
\nChernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster.<\/p>\n
During Chernobyl, a total exposure of 0.35 sieverts (350
\nmillisieverts) was used as the relocation threshold. At Fukushima,
\nthe dose was much lower, with radiation exposure of between 3\u2014170
\n\u00ce\u00bcSv\/h being measured within 30km of the plant.<\/p>\n
Among the former exclusion zones, Miyakojimachi is the only
\ndistrict where decontamination has been completed, and the
\nreintroduction of life to the area has been a slow process, with
\nthe first school opening last August, alongside permission being
\ngranted for visits to family graves.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"http:\/\/rt.com\/files\/news\/1f\/21\/20\/00\/rtx6bcr.jpg\")
<\/p>\n