ICHALLALENE Daniel_Potentials of the Post Nuclear

Potentials of the

Post Nuclear.

Daniel Ichallalene

Potentials of the

Post Nuclear.

The Strategic Recalibration of Remediative Efforts in Fukushima.

Daniel Ichallalene

RMIT School of Architecture & Design 2021

Contents

Prologue.

03.

Contents Abstract Preface

05.

09.

11.

Part One.

15.

Essay 01

The State of Nuclear.

17-21.

Atlas 01

An Atlas of Isotopes.

22-57.

25.

27.

29.

31.

33.

35.

37.

39.

41.

43.

45.

47.

49.

51.

53.

55 57.

59.

2011 2011 2011 2011 2011 2012 2018 2012 2018 2012 2018 2019 2019 2019 2019 2011 2017

Initial Radiation Iodine 131 Silver 110 Cesium 134 Cesium 137 Cesium 134 Cesium 134 Cesium 137 Cesium 137 Radiation Radiation Exclusion Zones Soil Excavation Soil Accumulation Power Plant Decommission Initial Population Density Population Displacement

Part Two. Essay 02

61-62.

A Point of Recalibration

65-81.

An Atlas of Adjustments.

67.

69.

71.

73.

75.

77.

79.

81.

Interim Storage Facilities Forest Retention Viable Land Essential Roads Site Paths Regions Sectors Path Extents

Atlas 02

5

Contents

83.

Part Three.

Essay 03

85-86.

Potentials of the Post Nuclear Atlas 03

89-121.

An Atlas of Algorithms.

91

Field Report - Potential 001A

93.

94.

95.

Foreword Contents Site Map

97-103.

98.

99.

100.

102.

103.

A Supply Chain of Soil Route Overview Urban Depot 114 National Highway Soil Transfer Site Soil Deployment

105-107.

106.

107.

Schematics for Remediative Planting Site Phasing Planting Schematics

109-112.

110.

111.

112.

Overview of Network Infrastructure Network Schematics Radiation Monitoring System Implementation Schematics

115-121.

116.

117.

118.

121.

Management of Remnant Forest Ecologies Mutation Documentation Site Section Spontaneous Ecology Documentation A Vision of Decommission

123.

Epilogue

125-131.

Appendix.

126-127.

129.

130-131.

Precedent Studies References Acknowledgments

7

Potentials of the

Post Nuclear.

The Strategic Recalibration of Remediative Efforts in Fukushima.

How can the post nuclear remediation of Fukushima Daiichi’s immediate context, function to reframe and evolve public perceptions of modern nuclear energy?

As a post nuclear site still in the process of decommission and ecological repair, the immediate context of Fukushima Daiichi presents a critical opportunity to capitalise on the comprehensive remediative efforts demonstrated thus far, as to further minimise their cumulative environmental impacts while reconciling the sites ecological and perceptual legacies within the lineage of nuclear energy.

This is informed by a growing consensus that regards next generation nuclear technology as essential in establishing consistent baselines for supplementing intermittent renewables in low carbon economies of the future. However this position is persistently met with opposition perpetuated by the entombed landscapes of nuclear consequence. For the way in which we engage with such post nuclear landscapes has a tangible effect on the evolving public perceptions of nuclear energy and subsequently our climate. Therefore in order to ensure the future of nuclear, we must first reconcile the products of its past, and in the process establish a new paradigm for post nuclear urbanism.

Subsequently this research project seeks to speculate on the utilisation of both decommissioned land and radioactive soil to establish a phased decontamination program, ecologically engineered to systematically phytoremediate the regions post nuclear contamination. Ultimately leveraging the programatic activation of site for a revitalisation of industry and attraction, in the ambition of inciting a broader perceptual remediation for nuclear energy.

9

Preface

Post nuclear landscapes, whether the subject of exploit, accumulation or contamination incur perhaps our most distinct anthropogenic signature - the prolonged decay of destabilised atoms and subsequent dissemination of gamma radiation.

Notably, the 2011 nuclear meltdown and subsequent hydrogen explosions of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, is to date our most recent nuclear disaster of this typology.

However as this region quietly radiates for decades to come, it’s positioning within the lineage of nuclear energy has yet to be determined - for in the process of ecological remediation, so may perception follow.

exacerbated by subsequent rainfall (Hardie and McKinley, 2014). In an effort to ascertain the initial extent and severity of resulting contamination, airborne monitoring conducted by the U.S. Department of Energy on April 29th 2011, set out to document cumulative Cesium concentrations in addition to subsequent ambient radiation within the region. The results of the survey observed maximum soil deposition densities of Cs134 + Cs137 between 3-30 MBq/m2 (megabecquerel per square meter), in conjunction to parallel observations of 19-90 µSv/hr (micro-sieverts per hour) in correlating regions (DOE U.S., MEXT Japan, 2011).

Despite substantial measures to limit the proliferation of radioactive material throughout the meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi, including the sustained immersion of spent nuclear fuel capable of inciting the evacuation of neighbouring Tokyo, three unforeseen hydrogen explosions over five days resulted in the dissemination of highly radioactive isotopes into the regions immediate context (Mizokami and Kumagai, 2014). The radius of dispersed radioisotopes for each hydrogen explosion was initially limited to a 20 km exclusion zone, however a northwesterly wind concurrent to steam venting from the unit 2 reactor on March 15th in conjunction with severe rainfall later that day, incurred further contamination extending an additional 20 km to Iitate Village in the North (Mizokami and Kumagai, 2014). Within the wide range of problematic fission products produced, the key contaminants of concern were and still are, Cesium 134 and 137, with effective half lives of 2.06 and 30.17 years respectively (Tagami, K. 2016), each translating to decades and or potential centuries for natural eradication. Such isotopes were found present within the regions exposed topsoil, surrounding foliage (fallen and retained), various impervious surfaces, and traveling through the regions major waterways - all of which were

This survey further initiated an iterative program for documenting the sites regional contamination in order to scope and inform a remediative strategic response for impacted areas, in pursuit of repairing local ecologies and reintegrating displaced populations.

The initial phase of this decontamination program primarily utilised methods such as topsoil excavation, transportation and storage, high pressure washing and runoff collection of impervious surfaces such as roads and other forms of infrastructure, and the dismantling and disposal of entire buildings deemed either structurally compromised, or too severely contaminated to rein-habit (Hardie and McKinley, 2014). To date, many of these operations are still in effect, most notably, that of soil excavation, in which 8.3 of a projected 14 million cubic meters of contaminated topsoil, has been collected, processed and temporarily stored at a centralised treatment facility, recently established in the immediate context of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (MOE, Japan, 2020). This current strategy projects its completion by the end of FY2021, however its final destination and storage system has yet to be determined, with various demonstration projects still in development. As of March 4th 2020, six towns, three villages and two 11

cities have completed their decontamination process as a product of such excavation works, and have subsequently had their evacuation orders lifted - translating to an approximate 60% of all targeted land (MOE, Japan, 2020). However much of this progress has occurred in the outer extents of regional contamination, with remaining areas likely to prove more obstinate in their engagement with significantly higher concentrations.

Furthermore, it is also worth noting a parallel accumulation of contaminated groundwater on site - initially collected from reactor infrastructure, as to mitigate its proliferation into the ocean, and effectively alleviated through a series of retaining walls - such water has been treated of all contamination with the exception of Tritium, an isotope of hydrogen, and although there is compelling evidence to justify its safe dilution into the ocean, post treatment, public opposition is hindering its disposal, and by proxy, key decommissioning efforts on site. It should also be noted that the dismantling and safe disposal of damaged reactor infrastructure on site is proving challenging to the extent of requiring real time technical innovation, and is therefore projected to take decades to effectively decommission, while its context undergoes a concurrent yet expedited revitalisation process.

With rates of effective decontamination projected to slow, it can be extrapolated that rates of return will follow in lockstep. However, in spite of this evolving narrative, there maintains an impact that resonates far beyond Fukushima’s prefectoral bounds and the issues immediate to its context. For concurrent to this crisis, lingers another point of contention peripheral to decontamination efforts in Fukushima - the nations future means of energy generation. For shortly after the events of March 2011, a national moratorium on nuclear energy was imposed, prior to which a third of Japans electricity was supplied by 54 regional reactors.

Today just 9 of an operable 33 reactors are online (PRIS. 2020), with a polarising tension emanating throughout the national consciousness, with wide spread public opposition driving nuclear divestment, while a trepidatious administration is eager to revive the nations once enviable rates of cheap and sustainable energy generation.

Though the isotopes in question may only be contained to a 40 km radius in the North East of Honshu, the expanse of their consequence resonate in the climate policies of nations throughout the world, and will likely prove influential in the composition of low carbon economies that further incur the degree to which our climate will change.

However as noted upon introduction, this sequence of events are far from resolve - there is still the opportunity for a remediative response to recalibrate the legacy of Fukushima from one of detrimentum to potentiality.

Despite the environmental specifics of this decontamination strategy, its iterative progress ultimately manifests through a human narrative as of 2017, 80 000 of an initial 160 000 residents remain displaced throughout Fukushima and greater Japan, with a notable expansion of temporary housing programs that seem to be taking on evermore permanent dimensions (Asanuma-Brice. C, 2020).

12

Part One.

Essay 01

The State of Nuclear.

Atlas 01

An Atlas of Isotopes.

Nuclear Consumption against Uranium Production, by Nation 2018 UK - 1.8 - 3%

FRANCE - 8.74 - 14.5%

GERMANY - 1.38 - 2.3%

UKRAINE - 1.89 - 3.1% RUSSIA - 5.62 - 9.3%

INDIA - 2.33 - 3.8%

CHINA - 8.7 - 14.5% SOUTH KOREA - 4.59 - 7.6% CANADA - 1.62 - 2.7%

USA - 19.16 - 32%

2018 U

2018 U

PTION

CONSUM

TION

PRODUC

AUSTRALIA - 6.5 - 12%

USA - 0.5 - 1%

CANADA - 7 - 13%

CHINA - 1.8 - 3.5%

RUSSIA - 2.9 - 5.4%

2018 U CONSUMPTION IN 1000 TONS

2018 U PRODUCTION IN 1000 TONS

USA

19.16 KT - 32%

KAZAKHSTAN

21.7 KT - 40.5%

FRANCE

8.74 KT - 14.5%

CANADA

7.0 KT

- 13%

CHINA

8.70 KT - 14.5%

AUSTRALIA

6.5 KT

- 12%

RUSSIA

5.62 KT - 9.3%

NAMIBIA

5.5 KT

- 10.3%

S. KOREA

4.59 KT - 7.6%

RUSSIA

2.9 KT

- 5.4%

INDIA

2.33 KT - 3.8%

NIGERIA

2.9 KT

- 5.4%

UKRAINE

1.89 KT - 3.1%

UZBEKISTSAN

2.4 KT

- 4.5%

UK

1.80 KT - 3%

CHINA

1.8 KT

- 3.5%

CANADA

1.62 KT - 2.7%

UKRAINE

1.1 KT

- 2.2%

GERMANY

1.38 KT - 2.3%

USA

0.5 KT

- 1%

OTHER

4.86 KT - 7.3%

OTHER

1.1 KT

- 2.2%

KAZAKHSTAN - 21.7 - 40.5% UZBEKISTSAN - 2.4 - 4.5%

UKRAINE - 1.1 - 2.2%

NAMIBIA - 5.5 - 10.3%

NIGERIA - 2.9 - 5.4%

16

The State of Nuclear Essay 01

The state of nuclear is currently entrenched in a polarising discourse of cross generational reactor adoption and decommission, in which perpetuated fallout, lingering obsolescence and prototyped potential, all culminate at the intersection of public perception and climate policy. Evidently Nuclear energy has incurred an incredibly volatile lineage of idealism and censure, in which recursive events of disastrous consequence erode public sentiment, with long perpetuated perceptions continuing to influence rates of innovation and adoption at a time when the technology has never proved more crucial. However concurrent to this conjuncture, exists an effective global fleet of productive nuclear power plants, each contributing to the broader energy portfolios of their respective nations; therefore it may prove more effective to ascertain a sense of nuclear’s true trajectory through its current operational composition, as opposed to the projections of its public discourse, in a contrast of what is real from that which is perceived.

accepted safe way of decontaminating it or even storing it.” (Greller, A, 2007).

This contention is indicative of a narrative inherited and perpetuated by generations of nuclear advent, and while ignorant to modern innovation, this lineage does identify tangible failings of the technology, its mismanagement and misinformed discourse following critical events, none of which should be minimised. Evidently the fallout of a nuclear disaster is not contained to the event nor its subsequent discourse, but rather is exacerbated by our remediative approach to the landscape, informing both the ecological and social legacies that sustain and serve as testaments of deterrence. Framed through the Anthropocene, and primarily concerned with the permanent disposal of nuclear waste, Themann and Brunnengräber argue of post nuclear landscapes that - “Nuclear remnants with their strict safety requirements force humankind into a permanent state of action for hundreds and thousands of years … The changes and negative impacts resulting from this … have assumed planetary dimensions.”

(Themann, D, Brunnengräber, A, 2018).

This position extrapolates the products of the post nuclear into its future, contextualising an impact and even going on to project “that there is no ground for optimism regarding the implementation of possible technical solutions. … we cannot foresee if the innovative solutions of today are pre-problems of tomorrow” (Themann, D, Brunnengräber, A, 2018). Evidently those who are a product of the nuclear age, and inherit its opposition, seek to limit next generation adoption, primarily though citing the landscapes of its consequence and in the process ensuring their preservation to maintain a fatalist narrative. By entombing our post nuclear sites such as Chernobyl in what was officially referred to as a ‘Sarcophagus’, we allow such landscapes to perpetuate an era representative of obsolete technologies, inefficient fuels, and myopic mismanagement - the critique of

To first demonstrate the reasoned rationale of those in opposition, a lineage of nuclear consequence is well considered in the following passage, in review of a Chernobyl retrospect that advocated for maintained nuclear adoption “I was a child of the nuclear age. I remembered the total destruction in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I grew up with the fear of radioactive fallout from the nuclear tests … Later, as the cold war heated up, the movies dealt with the psychological strains of preventing an accidental war … Finally, there was Chernobyl, the meltdown of reactor No. 4 during a safety test, spewing radioisotopes of bewildering variety and destructiveness from the reactor core and surrounding structures and soil, into the atmosphere. … I'm afraid it's much too late to convince people of my generation that the act of boiling water requires us to prepare the human race to deal with deadly Plutonium … with no generally 17

which proves very little relevance to existing innovations in the field. And although Chernobyl requires such an approach in order to facilitate its effective decommission, to appropriate such methods onto less severe sites such as Fukushima, would merely function to condemn the region and establish an ecological legacy based on detriment as opposed to potential. Evidently as we seek to reengineer the compositions of our national energy portfolios, we can no longer afford for perceptions based on outdated understandings to eliminate essential technologies. One of the key challenges in structuring a low carbon economy capable of facilitating projected energy demands, is in supplementing the intermittent nature of promin-

ent renewables such as solar and wind, specifically in topographic circumstances where pumped hydro-electric storage is not viable. Existing diversified grids currently supplement with natural gas and coal, however in a context of climate change, all low carbon alternatives must be considered. Nuclear energy has long been understood to have a total carbon life cycle less than solar (World Nuclear Association, 2011), while generating energy in a constant and consistent manner, leading to its ideal utilisation as a baseline. However as identified earlier, legacy reactors designed and built in the mid 20th century incur a range of safety concerns and highly problematic fuel inefficiencies resulting in a growi-

Nuclear Energy Generated by Nation 1970 - 2020 Three Mile Island 1979

Chernobyl 1986

Fukushima 2011

USA, 800

800

760

720

680

640

600

560

520

480

440

400

360

FR, 380 CN, 350

320

280

240 RU, 209

200

160 KR, 189

120

CA, 95 80

DE, 71 JP, 66

40

UK, 51

0 1970

1975

1980

1985

1990

1995

18

2000

2005

2010

2015

2020

Nuclear Energy Composition, by Nation 2020

FRANCE

USA PLANNED IN CONSTRUCTION IN OPERATION SHUTDOWN

4 2 95 28

5334 MW 2234 MW 97154 MW 16941 MW

ELECTRICITY SHARE TOTAL

19% 809 TWh

UK

IN CONSTRUCTION IN OPERATION SHUTDOWN

1 57 11

1600 MW 62250 MW 4590 MW

ELECTRICITY SHARE TOTAL

70% 380 TWh

UKRAINE

PLANNED IN CONSTRUCTION IN OPERATION SHUTDOWN

4 2 15 28

ELECTRICITY SHARE TOTAL

15% 51 TWh

5200 MW 3260 MW 8923 MW 4680 MW

SLOVAKIA

IN CONSTRUCTION IN OPERATION SHUTDOWN

2 15 4

ELECTRICITY SHARE TOTAL

53% 83 TWh

2070 MW 13107 MW 3515 MW

RUSSIA

IN CONSTRUCTION IN OPERATION SHUTDOWN

2 4 3

ELECTRICITY SHARE TOTAL

53% 15 TWh

880 MW 1814 MW 909 MW

HUNGARY

PLANNED IN CONSTRUCTION IN OPERATION SHUTDOWN

17 4 38 7

15635 MW 4424 MW 28437 MW 2102 MW

ELECTRICITY SHARE TOTAL

19% 209 TWh

CHINA

PLANNED IN OPERATION

2 4

ELECTRICITY SHARE TOTAL

49% 15 TWh

2200 MW 1902 MW

GERMANY

PLANNED IN CONSTRUCTION IN OPERATION

41 12 95

41320 MW 11168 MW 46498 MW

ELECTRICITY SHARE TOTAL

4% 348 TWh

BELGIUM

IN OPERATION SHUTDOWN

6 26

ELECTRICITY SHARE TOTAL

12% 71 TWh

8113 MW 18192 MW

TAIWAN

IN OPERATION

7

ELECTRICITY SHARE TOTAL

47% 41 TWh

5930 MW

JAPAN

IN CONSTRUCTION IN OPERATION SHUTDOWN

2 4 2

ELECTRICITY SHARE TOTAL

13% 31 TWh

2600 MW 3844 MW 1208 MW

PLANNED IN CONSTRUCTION IN OPERATION SHUTDOWN

9 2 33 25

ELECTRICITY SHARE TOTAL

7% 66 TWh

12300 MW 2650 MW 31679 MW 16959 MW

SOUTH KOREA

INDIA PLANNED IN CONSTRUCTION IN OPERATION

20 7 22

ELECTRICITY SHARE TOTAL

3% 41 TWh

19160 MW 4824 MW 6255 MW

FINLAND

IN CONSTRUCTION IN OPERATION SHUTDOWN

4 24 2

5360 MW 23172 MW 1237 MW

ELECTRICITY SHARE TOTAL

26% 139 TWh

SWITZERLAND

PLANNED IN CONSTRUCTION IN OPERATION

1 1 4

ELECTRICITY SHARE TOTAL

34% 23 TWh

1100 MW 1600 MW 2794 MW

BULGARIA

IN OPERATION SHUTDOWN

4 1

ELECTRICITY SHARE TOTAL

35% 17 TWh

2960 MW 373 MW

CANADA

IN OPERATION SHUTDOWN

2 4

ELECTRICITY SHARE TOTAL

37% 17 TWh

2006 MW 1632 MW

19

IN OPERATION SHUTDOWN

19 5

ELECTRICITY SHARE TOTAL

14% 95 TWh

13554 MW 2121 MW

generate over 25% of their electrical demand from nuclear energy, actually tend to produce a megawatt total that is less than that of nations with shares under 25% (The Independent Global Nuclear News Agency. 2020). This is largely indicative of two key dynamics - first, that nuclear’s predominate role in most energy portfolios is to act as a baseline to supplement other means of energy generation (both renewable and fossil fuel based), which can be somewhat agnostic of scale, rather a function of proportion. Though Second, that nuclear as a cumulative means of energy generation is rather condensed, allowing for its capacity per square meter to exponentially exceed all alternatives, further lending itself to smaller nations with limited viable land and or natural resources, such as Belgium (48%), Slovakia (53%) or Japan, pre 2011 (33%) (The Independent Global Nuclear News Agency. 2020).

-ng nuclear waste problem. Although often conflated, next generation molten salt reactors prove to mitigate many of these very real concerns, specifically in their revised reactor core composition and fuel containment material.

Notably these reactors are not capable of melting down due to their solid state system, nor do they require large proximal bodies of water for circulator cooling (Transatomic Power Corporation, 2016). Furthermore they are able to utilise fuels of greater natural abundance such as Thorium with higher rates of efficiency, even accepting spent nuclear fuel in tandem, ultimately producing a fraction of the standardised waste.

However despite a multitude of highly successful test reactors, this next generation functions predominantly within speculations for an imminent ‘nuclear renaissance’, while more tangible trajectories can be understood through the objective metrics of the current operational fleet.

However, as this dynamic is well established within smaller western countries, the largest rates of nuclear investment are all occurring within the worlds most populous and geographically expansive nations, such as China (41 reactors planned, 12 in construction), India (20 reactors

When cross examining a sequence of nations nuclear energy share, in conjunction with their total megawatt capacities, a compelling pattern of small countries begins to emerge. For nations that

National Electricity Share Against Nuclear Energy Produced, by Nation 2020 ES%

TWh

70% 53% 53% 49% 47% 37% 37% 35% 35% 34% 33% 26% 21% 19% 19% 18% 15% 14% 13% 12% 07% 06% 06% 05% 04% 04% 03% 03% 02% 01%

380 83 15 15 41 17 6 17 29 23 56 139 59 209 809 10 51 95 31 71 66 9 14 8 11 348 41 4 16 6

France Ukraine Slovakia Hungary Belgium Bulgaria Slovenia Switzerland Czech Republic Finland Sweden South Korea Spain Russia USA Romania Uk Canada Taiwan Germany Japan Pakistan South Africa Argentina Mexico China India Netherlands Brazil Iran

TWh %

TerraWatt Hours Electricity Share

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

20

For attempting to ascertain a sense of the contemporary state of nuclear is somewhat a practice of parsing truths - for those that inherit their opposition, there is tangible fact to hold and herald, while climate pragmatists and informed technologists can combat with objective innovations. By what means nuclear energy became a matter of opinion is just as hard to derive, however at the juncture of both polarities lies a post nuclear landscape - a testament of deterrence for some, and a manifest of opportunity for others - though perhaps in the perceptual and ecological remediation of such a space, lies the potential to reconcile disparate truths.

planned, 7 in construction), and Russia (17 reactors planned, 4 in construction)(The Independent Global Nuclear News Agency. 2020).

The scale of these investments are perhaps most indicative of their immense populations, though still communicate an overwhelmingly optimistic sentiment for nuclear by these respective governments. However, despite the immense expansion of fleets within these exponentially urbanising nations, the aggregate trajectory of modern nuclear is still in decline, as articulated in an adjacent graph of nuclear energy generation by nation (1970-2020). For notwithstanding the highly publicised pursuit of nuclear fusion, nations in the historically high producing European sector such as France and Germany, demonstrate a trend of institutional divestment. Subsequently in a context of convolution, the strategy of nations throughout the world in regard to nuclear energy adoption and implementation vary to comparable degrees as evidenced in the discourse - without clear consensus, the global market for nuclear may be perpetually offset in a state of limbo.

21

An Atlas of Isotopes Atlas 01

Initial Radiation.

2011

This mapping serves as a re-articulation of an aerial survey of radiation via dose rate, conducted on may 26th 2011, a number of weeks following the multi day meltdown event at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear power plant (DOE U.S., MEXT Japan, 2011). It most notably demonstrates a north westerly trajectory of concentrated radioactive material, with a wide radius of gradated decay, disseminated across multiple municipalities and townships within the Fukushima prefecture.

Concentrations of residential housing as identified in black clusters, and documented waterways in pink line work, allude to the immediate impact on populations and potentially exacerbated dissemination of radioisotopes into the surrounding environment via surface and ground water.

24

141°25’E

141°35’E

141°45’E

140°55’E

141°05’E

37°40’N

37°45’N

Fukushima

福島市

Iitate

飯舘村

37°35’N

37°35’N

37°25’N

37°25’N

Futaba 双葉町

Okuma 大熊町

37°15’N

37°15’N

37°05’N

37°05’N

An Atlas of Isotopes.

Initial Radiation.

2011

1 : 400 000

Municipal Borders

Data Reference.

19.0

<

Waterways

MEXT, Gov of Japan, DOE, Gov of U.S.

3.8

-

Roads/ Highways

Residences/ Structures

9.5

May 26, 2011

1.9

MOE, Gov of Japan.

1.0

2020.

0.5 0.2

Open Street Map.

0.1

2020.

25

-

19.0

-

3.8

-

9.5 1.9 1.0 0.5 0.1

uSv/ hr

Iodine 131.

2011

Iodine 131 is a highly radioactive isotope and formidable fission product, that was widely disseminated during the meltdown events at Fukushima Daiichi. The adjacent survey of spatialised soil concentrations sampled on June 14th 2011 allows for a potential insight into its window of release (DOE U.S., MEXT Japan, 2011).

The skewed and novel dissemination path observed in the survey may suggest that the greatest concentrations of the isotope were released during explosions of units 1, 3 or 4, or from the unit 2 steam vent independent of its main venting activity on March 15th, in which the recurring dissemination pattern of other isotopes and overall radiation was derived (Mizokami and Kumagai, 2014).

Although Iodine 131 incurs a relatively short half life of 8.02 days, with few traces remaining after a full year, it can be extremely detrimental in the interim, due to its prosperity to accumulate in the thyroid. It is also worth noting, that many crops and parcels of agricultural land were severely contaminated by its initial release, with this surveyed mapping eluding to the extent of overall impact.

26

141°25’E

141°35’E

141°45’E

140°55’E

141°05’E

37°40’N

37°45’N

Fukushima

福島市

Iitate

飯舘村

37°35’N

37°35’N

37°25’N

37°25’N

Futaba 双葉町

Okuma 大熊町

37°15’N

37°15’N

37°05’N

37°05’N

An Atlas of Isotopes.

Iodine 131.

2011

1 : 400 000

Municipal Borders

Data Reference.

5000

<

Waterways

MEXT, Gov of Japan, DOE, Gov of U.S.

1000

-

Roads/ Highways

Residences/ Structures

2000

June 14, 2011

500

MOE, Gov of Japan.

200

2020.

100

Open Street Map.

50 20

2020.

27

-

5000

-

1000

-

2000 500 200 100 50

Bq/ m2

Silver 110.

2011

Silver 110 is another problematic fission product, that judging by its dispersal pattern saw its most concentrated release in steam venting from the unit 2 reactor on March 15th. This mapping is the product of a series of soil concentration samples taken on June 14th 2011 (DOE U.S., MEXT Japan, 2011). Notably Silver 110 has a documented half-life of 249.79 days, however has witnessed accelerated rates of decay when ingested and absorbed by various flora and fauna in the effected regions, specifically documented in local spiders.

This mapping and its Iodine 131 companion, seek to demonstrate the impact of more ephemeral radioisotopes disseminated through out the region, that although likely to be all but eradicated in present day, posed a substantial impact on local ecologies and agricultural practices in the region, that still reverberate 10 years later.

28

141°25’E

141°35’E

141°45’E

140°55’E

141°05’E

37°40’N

37°45’N

Fukushima

福島市

Iitate

飯舘村

37°35’N

37°35’N

37°25’N

37°25’N

Futaba 双葉町

Okuma 大熊町

37°15’N

37°15’N

37°05’N

37°05’N

An Atlas of Isotopes.

Silver 110.

2011

1 : 400 000

Municipal Borders

Data Reference.

10.0 k

<

Waterways

MEXT, Gov of Japan, DOE, Gov of U.S.

2.0 k

-

Roads/ Highways

Residences/ Structures

5.0 k

June 14, 2011

1.0 k 0.5 k

MOE, Gov of Japan.

2020.

0.2 k

Open Street Map.

0.1 k

2020.

29

-

10.0 k

-

2.0 k

-

<

5.0 k 1.0 k 0.5 k 0.2 k

0.1 k

(k = 1000) Bq/ m2

Cesium 134.

2011

One of the key contaminants of concern, resulting from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear meltdown, is that of Cesium 134, effective half life of 2.06 years (Tagami, K. 2016). This mapping projects data from an areal survey conducted on April 29th 2011, measuring surface deposition densities of the isotope in 1000 Becquerels per square meter (DOE U.S., MEXT Japan, 2011).

Again judging by its deposition path, its most concentrated release can be attributed to the unit 2 reactor on March 15th - this path is remarkably similar to that of Cesium 134’s isotopic relative, Cesium 137, although incurring minor dissimilarities, perhaps due to the relative concentrations released (Mizokami and Kumagai, 2014).

30

141°25’E

141°35’E

141°45’E

140°55’E

141°05’E

37°40’N

37°45’N

Fukushima

福島市

Iitate

飯舘村

37°35’N

37°35’N

37°25’N

37°25’N

Futaba 双葉町

Okuma 大熊町

37°15’N

37°15’N

37°05’N

37°05’N

An Atlas of Isotopes.

Cesium 134.

2011

1 : 400 000

Municipal Borders

Data Reference.

3000 k

<

Waterways

MEXT, Gov of Japan, DOE, Gov of U.S.

600 k

-

Roads/ Highways

Residences/ Structures

1000 k

May 26, 2011

300 k

MOE, Gov of Japan.

100 k

2020.

60 k

Open Street Map.

30 k 10 k

2020.

31

-

3000 k

-

600 k

-

<

1000 k 300 k 100 k 60 k 30 k

(k = 1000) Bq/ m2

Cesium 137.

2011

Perhaps the most problematic and severe form of contamination resulting from the nuclear meltdowns at Fukushima Daiichi in March of 2011, is that of Cesium 137 - although a closely related isotope of 134, Cesium 137 incurs a significantly longer half-life of 30.2 years, resulting in the potential hundreds of years to eradicate via natural decay (Tagami, K. 2016). Both isotopes of Cesium are the focus of the immense decontamination efforts (exterior to water) underway in the effected regions, specifically in regard to top soil and plant mass (MOE, Japan, 2020).

32

141°25’E

141°35’E

141°45’E

140°55’E

141°05’E

37°40’N

37°45’N

Fukushima

福島市

Iitate

飯舘村

37°35’N

37°35’N

37°25’N

37°25’N

Futaba 双葉町

Okuma 大熊町

37°15’N

37°15’N

37°05’N

37°05’N

An Atlas of Isotopes.

Cesium 137.

2011

1 : 400 000

Municipal Borders

Data Reference.

3000 k

<

Waterways

MEXT, Gov of Japan, DOE, Gov of U.S.

600 k

-

Roads/ Highways

Residences/ Structures

1000 k

May 26, 2011

300 k

MOE, Gov of Japan.

100 k

2020.

60 k

Open Street Map.

30 k 10 k

2020.

33

-

3000 k

-

600 k

-

<

1000 k 300 k 100 k 60 k 30 k

(k = 1000) Bq/ m2

Cesium 134.

2012

Due to circumstantial restrictions, a small scale survey of Cesium 134’s surface deposition densities surrounding the power plants immediate context could not be conducted until October 20th 2012, from which the data that informs this mapping was derived. Consequently, what this map demonstrates is the spatialised distribution of Cesium 134 by concentration, 19 months following its dispersal into the environment (DOE U.S., MEXT Japan, 2011).

Evidently this entire region is within some excess of a standardised threshold, with the highest concentrations conforming to observations regarding its primary release via the unit 2 reactors steam vent, in addition to a small but focused southward extent of high deposition densities.

Additionally, It is worth noting, that at the time of survey, the isotope would have decayed an approximate 25% on a curve of depreciating return, in line with its 2.06 year half-life (Tagami, K. 2016).

34

141°01’E

141°01’E

141°E

141°01’E

141°02’E

Futaba

双葉町

37°27’N

37°27’N

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

福島第一原子力発電所 37°26’N

37°26’N

37°25’N

37°25’N

Okuma 大熊町

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

An Atlas of Isotopes.

Cesium 134.

2012

1 : 50 000

Contours at 5 Meters

Data Reference.

3000 k

<

Roads/ Highways

MEXT, Gov of Japan, DOE, Gov of U.S.

600 k

-

Residences/ Structures

MOE, Gov of Japan.

Municipal Borders

Landuse Boundaries

1000 k

Oct 20, 2012

300 k 100 k

2020.

60 k

Open Street Map.

30 k 10 k

2020.

35

-

3000 k

-

600 k

-

<

1000 k 300 k 100 k 60 k 30 k

(k = 1000) Bq/ m2

Cesium 134.

2018

A subsequent aerial survey taken almost exactly 6 years later, on October 16th 2018, demonstrates a substantial degree of decay for Cesium 134 in the region, with deposition densities in the highest strata no longer present, and all initial findings decreasing multiple strata in concentration (DOE U.S., MEXT Japan, 2011).

However the predominate factor driving this progress, is simply the isotopes natural rate of decay, with concentrations falling 87.5% in accordance with its specified 2.06 year half-life (Tagami, K. 2016). Though notably this rate of decay functions on a curve of depreciating return, and will still require multiple decades to establish the natural eradication of the radioisotope - however this does translate to a meaningful reduction in cumulative gamma emission on site in the interim.

36

141°01’E

141°01’E

141°E

141°01’E

141°02’E

Futaba

双葉町

37°27’N

37°27’N

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

福島第一原子力発電所 37°26’N

37°26’N

37°25’N

37°25’N

Okuma 大熊町

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

An Atlas of Isotopes.

Cesium 134.

2018

1 : 50 000

Contours at 5 Meters

Data Reference.

3000 k

<

Roads/ Highways

MEXT, Gov of Japan, DOE, Gov of U.S.

600 k

-

Residences/ Structures

MOE, Gov of Japan.

Municipal Borders

Landuse Boundaries

1000 k

Oct 16, 2018

300 k 100 k

2020.

60 k

Open Street Map.

30 k 10 k

2020.

37

-

3000 k

-

600 k

-

<

1000 k 300 k 100 k 60 k 30 k

(k = 1000) Bq/ m2

Cesium 137.

2012

Although rather comparable at a large scale, the spatial disparities between concentrations of Cesium 134 and 137 begin to exacerbate upon closer inspection, as evidenced through this surface disposition density survey of 137 conducted on October 20th 2012 (DOE U.S., MEXT Japan, 2011).

For a much greater extent of concentrations at the highest strata sprawl northwest in line with dispersal trends, in addition to the same southern plume found in the Cesium 134 survey, through again at a higher concentration. This is likely a result of the isotopes divergence in effective half-lives, with Cesium 137 maintaining its initial concentrations 19 months after it’s dissemination, as opposed to Cesium 134’s 25% reduction throughout that same period. However it is also quite feasible that the radioisotopes were also proliferated in substantively different quantities (Mizokami and Kumagai, 2014).

38

141°01’E

141°01’E

141°E

141°01’E

141°02’E

Futaba

双葉町

37°27’N

37°27’N

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

福島第一原子力発電所 37°26’N

37°26’N

37°25’N

37°25’N

Okuma 大熊町

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

An Atlas of Isotopes.

Cesium 137.

2012

1 : 50 000

Contours at 5 Meters

Data Reference.

3000 k

<

Roads/ Highways

MEXT, Gov of Japan, DOE, Gov of U.S.

600 k

-

Residences/ Structures

MOE, Gov of Japan.

Municipal Borders

Landuse Boundaries

1000 k

Oct 20, 2012

300 k 100 k

2020.

60 k

Open Street Map.

30 k 10 k

2020.

39

-

3000 k

-

600 k

-

<

1000 k 300 k 100 k 60 k 30 k

(k = 1000) Bq/ m2

Cesium 137.

2018

A subsequent 2018 survey for Cesium 137 surface deposition densities in the same region, demonstrated very little decay since its initial evaluation in 2012 (DOE U.S., MEXT Japan, 2011).

A predominate factor driving this minimal change is of course the 30.2 year half-life incurred by the isotope - subsequently over the past 6 years, overall concentrations would have only decreased by 11.5% (again on a depreciating curve)(Tagami, K. 2016). Key points of distinction between the two timeframes include a notable retreat on the edge of the southwest plume, in addition to the north west perimeter of concentrations in the highest strata.

Although comprehensive decontamination was underway in the prefecture, at the time of survey, this was primarily occurring in the outer municipalities where deposition densities were lower and easier to accomodate. Furthermore, although portions of this site extent had been excavated of its contaminated top soil, this was to establish a base for centralised soil remediation, therefore any land actioned, was then occupied by additional accumulated soil of even higher deposition density.

However, it is worth noting that Cesium shares a close chemical composition to that of Potassium and will often interact as its substitute in contexts of both flora and fauna - this is significant due to its propensity to bind with minerals in clay heavy soils, to the degree that it is rendered immobile (JAEA, 2010). Though in soils with little presence of clay, the isotope is highly available, lending itself to uptake in plants and establishing a proclivity for phytoremediation (Gupta, D. and Voronina, A., 2019). Comprehensive geologic maps of the region have been difficult to source to date, though this dynamic remains worth consideration in the attempt to understand this isotopes obstinance of uptake.

40

141°01’E

141°01’E

141°E

141°01’E

141°02’E

Futaba

双葉町

37°27’N

37°27’N

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

福島第一原子力発電所 37°26’N

37°26’N

37°25’N

37°25’N

Okuma 大熊町

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

An Atlas of Isotopes.

Cesium 137.

2018

1 : 50 000

Contours at 5 Meters

Data Reference.

3000 k

<

Roads/ Highways

MEXT, Gov of Japan, DOE, Gov of U.S.

600 k

-

Residences/ Structures

MOE, Gov of Japan.

Municipal Borders

Landuse Boundaries

1000 k

Oct 16, 2018

300 k 100 k

2020.

60 k

Open Street Map.

30 k 10 k

2020.

41

-

3000 k

-

600 k

-

<

1000 k 300 k 100 k 60 k 30 k

(k = 1000) Bq/ m2

Radiation.

2012

This mapping re-articulates a survey of radiation via micro-sievert dose rate conducted across the immediate context of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on October 20th 2012 (DOE U.S., MEXT Japan, 2011). Evidently the results are perhaps most indicative of cumulative Cesium 134 and 137 concentrations across site, incurred by the isotopes high rates of gamma emission during nuclear decay. When compared, regions of exceedingly high Cesium 137 deposition densities, measuring in excess of 3 million Bq/m2, mirror micro-sievert dose rates north of 19 uSv/hr, and likely more in the range of 20 - 35, ultimately allow for a conservative though strong correlation to be established between the two measurements.

42

141°01’E

141°01’E

141°E

141°01’E

141°02’E

Futaba

双葉町

37°27’N

37°27’N

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

福島第一原子力発電所 37°26’N

37°26’N

37°25’N

37°25’N

Okuma 大熊町

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

An Atlas of Isotopes.

Radiation.

2012

1 : 50 000

Contours at 5 Meters

Data Reference.

19.0

<

Roads/ Highways

MEXT, Gov of Japan, DOE, Gov of U.S.

3.8

-

Residences/ Structures

MOE, Gov of Japan.

Municipal Borders

Landuse Boundaries

9.5

Oct 20, 2012

1.9 1.0

2020.

0.5 0.2

Open Street Map.

0.1

2020.

43

-

19.0

-

3.8

-

9.5 1.9 1.0 0.5 0.1

uSv/ hr

Radiation.

2018

A subsequent aerial survey of radiation via micro-sievert dose rate conducted on October 16 2018, offers a tangible contrast to its 2012 counterpart, demonstrating a significant decrease in effective radiation over the 6 year period (DOE U.S., MEXT Japan, 2011). Despite the high resilience of Cesium 137, the immense degradation of 134 has effectively halved the rates of gamma emission on site, translating to significantly lower, however likely more obstinate levels of ambient radiation. For Cesium 134’s rate of decay decelerates with every two year measure of half life, while 137 will require an additional 23 years to complete a single measure, in order to simply half its rate of emission (Tagami, K. 2016). Evidently in order to repopulate this region and mitigate the effects of radioactive material in the landscape, all topsoil containing the slightest traces of Cesium 134 and or 137, will require excavation and comprehensive decontamination, as the projected timelines of decay are fundamental incompatible with the administration’s objectives for regional revitalisation.

44

141°01’E

141°01’E

141°E

141°01’E

141°02’E

Futaba

双葉町

37°27’N

37°27’N

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

福島第一原子力発電所 37°26’N

37°26’N

37°25’N

37°25’N

Okuma 大熊町

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

An Atlas of Isotopes.

Radiation.

2018

1 : 50 000

Contours at 5 Meters

Data Reference.

19.0

<

Roads/ Highways

MEXT, Gov of Japan, DOE, Gov of U.S.

3.8

-

Residences/ Structures

MOE, Gov of Japan.

Municipal Borders

Landuse Boundaries

9.5

Oct 16, 2018

1.9 1.0

2020.

0.5 0.2

Open Street Map.

0.1

2020.

45

-

19.0

-

3.8

-

9.5 1.9 1.0 0.5 0.1

uSv/ hr

Exclusion Zones and Evacuation Orders.

2019

Initiated over the course of a multi week nuclear meltdown, and maintained throughout the subsequent decontamination process, evacuation orders and public exclusion zones have established a concentric array of boundary conditions throughout the region that have displaced populations and fortified gradations of heightened radiation (MOE, Japan, 2020).

The initial evacuation perimeter can be understood through an immediate 20 km radius extending outwards from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, with the exception of an additional 20 km northwestern extent to Iitate village, accomodating the resulting dissemination of radioisotopes from steam venting activity in the unit 2 reactor on March 15th (Mizokami and Kumagai, 2014). This outer most region has been the focus of decontamination efforts over the past 6 years, with evacuation orders lifted for specific areas, and a retreat of the hard exclusion border to a central extent of high Cesium deposition densities and subsequent high rates of ambient radiation.

Notably some boarder towns on the edge of this exclusion zone are in the process of completed decontamination and are pending repopulation, or allowing for visitation without re-habitation. There has also been the designation of ‘Revitalisation Bases’, where the implementation of strategic infrastructure occurs in tandem with decontamination, to ensure the viable and longevous repopulation of these regions when they are deemed ready (MOE, Japan, 2020).

46

141°25’E

141°35’E

141°45’E

140°55’E

141°05’E

37°40’N

37°45’N

Fukushima

福島市

Iitate

飯舘村

37°35’N

37°35’N

37°25’N

37°25’N

Futaba 双葉町

Okuma 大熊町

37°15’N

37°15’N

37°05’N

37°05’N

An Atlas of Isotopes.

Exclusion Zones and Evacuation Orders.

2019

1 : 400 000

Municipal Borders

Data Reference.

3000 k

<

Residences/ Structures

MEXT, Gov of Japan, DOE, Gov of U.S.

600 k

-

Evacuation Orders Lifted

MOE, Gov of Japan.

Roads/ Highways

Initial Evacuation Extents Evacuation Orders in Effect

Evacuation Orders Pending Habitation Restricted Revitalisation Base

1000 k

May 26, 2011

300 k 100 k

2020.

60 k

Open Street Map.

30 k 10 k

2020.

47

-

3000 k

-

600 k

-

<

1000 k 300 k 100 k 60 k 30 k

(k = 1000) Bq/ m2

Soil Excavation.

2019

The predominate decontamination strategy deployed to date, has been to excavate, relocate and process contaminated top soil in regions where aerial survey data has identified surface deposition densities greater than 100 000 Bq/m2 of Cesium 134 and or 137 (MOE, Japan, 2020). As of October 2019, this strategy has excavated and accumulated 8.3 of a projected 14 million cubic meters of contaminated top soil, translating to an approximate 60% of their targeted region. This has resulted in a successful retreat of the public exclusion zone and strategic repopulation of specified towns and villages, with the remaining 40% of site projected to complete its decontamination process by the end of FY2021 (MOE, Japan, 2020).

48

141°25’E

141°35’E

141°45’E

140°55’E

141°05’E

37°40’N

37°45’N

Fukushima

福島市

Iitate

飯舘村

37°35’N

37°35’N

37°25’N

37°25’N

Futaba 双葉町

Okuma 大熊町

37°15’N

37°15’N

37°05’N

37°05’N

An Atlas of Isotopes.

Soil Excavation.

2019

1 : 400 000

Municipal Borders

Data Reference.

3000 k

<

Decontamination Extents

MEXT, Gov of Japan, DOE, Gov of U.S.

600 k

-

Decontamination Completed

MOE, Gov of Japan.

Roads/ Highways

1 Square = 50 x 50 m

Longterm Soil Storage

Decontamination Ongoing Revitalisation Base

1000 k

Oct 16, 2018

300 k 100 k

2020.

60 k

Open Street Map.

30 k 10 k

2020.

49

-

3000 k

-

600 k

-

<

1000 k 300 k 100 k 60 k 30 k

(k = 1000) Bq/ m2

Soil Accumulation.

2019

Upon excavation, all contaminated top soil is portioned, packaged and transported to a centralised processing facility, established in the immediate context of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. This newly mechanised landscape facilitates the incineration, separation and both interim and longterm storage of accumulated soil throughout its process of decontamination (MOE, Japan, 2020). As the existing strategy seeks to remediate this soil via the longterm natural decay of its embedded radioisotopes, permanent and protected storage will be required - however both the final destinations and spatial configurations of such a strategy have yet to be determined.

Evidently this process will begin to prove problematic, as a projected 5.7 million cubic meters of additional contaminated top soil will require processing and temporary storage before the end of 2021. Notably the facilities to date are comprised of iteratively acquired parcels of land, purchased from prior residents of the Okuma and Futaba Townships (MOE, Japan, 2020). Although these residents remain evacuated from the region, expanding the existing extents of the facility may prove challenging as it ventures towards more densely populated districts, not to mention the longterm ecological implications that temporarily mechanising this landscape might have, post occupation.

50

141°01’E

141°01’E

141°E

141°01’E

141°02’E

Futaba

双葉町

37°27’N

37°27’N

37°26’N

37°26’N

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

福島第一原子力発電所

37°25’N

37°25’N

Okuma 大熊町

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

An Atlas of Isotopes.

Soil Accumulation.

2019

1 : 50 000

Contours at 5 meters

Data Reference.

3000 k

<

Land Acquired for Decontamination

MEXT, Gov of Japan, DOE, Gov of U.S.

600 k

-

Interim Soil Storage

MOE, Gov of Japan.

Roads/ Highways

1 Square = 50 x 50 m

Longterm Soil Storage Stockyards

Soil Seperation Facility

1000 k

Oct 16, 2018

300 k 100 k

2020.

60 k

Open Street Map.

30 k 10 k

2020.

51

-

3000 k

-

600 k

-

<

1000 k 300 k 100 k 60 k 30 k

(k = 1000) Bq/ m2

Power Plant Decommission.

2019

Concurrent to peripheral decontamination efforts, the longterm decommission of reactor infrastructure poses its own set of constraints, challenges and spatial reconfigurations for the site and context of the retired Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. While issues such as the disassembly of collapsed and cooling reactor cores have demanded and contrived innovations in technical engineering, many of the key spatial challenges facing the site have been notably bureaucratic and or regulatory in nature specifically the disposal of contaminated water collected and treated on site.

Much of the power plants current spatial organisation has been configured to accomodate large drums of ground water that had filtered through reactor cores in the years following their initial meltdowns - such water was collected to mitigate its proliferation into the environment, at which point it was treated of its contaminants with the exception of Tritium, a radioisotope of hydrogen that can not be effectively filtered (MOE, Japan, 2020). Fortunately, a subsequent retaining wall has effectively mitigated the continued flow of ground water through the reactors, however the immense quantities accumulated and the required maintenance of its containment systems are impeding the overall sites decommission process. It has since been preposed that if released into the ocean, the contaminated waters tritium levels would dilute to a safe and standardised threshold, however public opposition is hindering administrative approval for what is pragmatically the only tangible solution.

Evidently this has imposed a delay on what is already outlined to be an extremely longterm decommission strategy, incurred by the obstructed and highly radioactive conditions of each melted-down reactor core. However, regardless of how fast the peripheral remediation of accumulated soil is executed, or how comprehensively the townships of Okuma and Futaba are decontaminated, the site of the power plant will remain radioactive, and in active decommission for decades to come.

52

141°00’30’’E

141°01’30’’E

141°01’E

141°02’E

37°26’30’’N

37°26’30’’N

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

福島第一原子力発電所

37°26’N

37°26’N

37°25’30’’N

37°25’30’’N

37°25’N

37°25’N

37°24’30’’N

37°24’30’’N

An Atlas of Isotopes.

Power Plant Decommission.

2019

1 : 20 000

Contours at 5 meters

Data Reference.

3000 k

<

Land Acquired for Decontamination

MEXT, Gov of Japan, DOE, Gov of U.S.

600 k

-

WS - Treated Water Storage

MOE, Gov of Japan.

Roads/ Highways

1 Square = 50 x 50 m

WW - Waste Water Storage

WT - Water Treatment Facility RS - Rubble Storage

1000 k

Oct 16, 2018

300 k 100 k

2020.

60 k

Open Street Map.

30 k 10 k

2020.

53

-

3000 k

-

600 k

-

<

1000 k 300 k 100 k 60 k 30 k

(k = 1000) Bq/ m2

Initial Population Density.

2011

The adjacent mapping seeks to spatialise the prior populations of Okuma and Futaba in their immediate context to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, as to ascertain an impression of the areas original population density and residential organisation, in order to contextualise the impact that evacuation orders and subsequent exclusions zones imposed on these towns following the sites nuclear meltdown. The data utilised by this mapping is from the 2013 national census (MOE, Japan, 2020), in which residents of evacuated regions were instructed to maintain their original details - this data has then been processed into a quad tree mapping, in which each individual square is equal to 20 residents, allowing for an immediate and generalised impression of relative density via the size and distribution of squares across the map.

54

141°01’E

141°01’E

141°E

141°01’E

141°02’E

Futaba

双葉町

37°27’N

37°27’N

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

福島第一原子力発電所 37°26’N

37°26’N

37°25’N

37°25’N

Okuma 大熊町

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

An Atlas of Isotopes.

Initial Population Density.

2011

Contours at 5 Meters

Data Reference.

Roads/ Highways

MEXT, Gov of Japan, DOE, Gov of U.S.

Residences/ Structures

MOE, Gov of Japan.

Municipal Borders

Landuse Boundaries

1 Square = 20 Residents

1 : 50 000

May 26, 2011 2020.

Census, MIC, Gov of Japan.

2013.

55

Population Displacement.

2012 - 2017

Amongst the countless comprehensive strategies for actioning infrastructure and ecology within the affected regions of Fukushima, there maintains an underlying human narrative throughout much of greater Japan; a plight of populations displaced, and a national network of sustainable energy generation lying dormant in spite of compounding fossil fuel consumption.

online (PRIS. 2020), with a polarising tension emanating throughout the national consciousness, with wide spread public opposition driving nuclear divestment, while a trepidatious administration is eager to revive the nations once enviable rates of cheap and sustainable energy generation ].

Subsequently the secondary function of this mapping is to spatialise the nations nuclear capacity with regard to its potential for generation, in addition to projected rates for plants with new reactors planned or in construction.

In 2012, approximately 160 000 people were documented as displaced - regarded as nuclear refugees, many relocated within Fukushima, however almost every prefecture throughout Japan saw the accomodation of internal migrants to varying degrees. 6 Years later, in 2017, a little under 80 000 of these residents remain displaced and anxious to return, despite the expansion of temporary housing programs that have admittedly begun to take on more permanent dimensions (Asanuma-Brice. C, 2020). This mapping primary functions to spatialise the distribution and density of such populations between 2012 and 2017 (their last documented account), as to communicate a general impression of the issue in true scale.

Cumulatively, the correlative spatialisation of these data sets allow not only for an immediate purview of nuclear potential and consequence as distributed throughout Japan, but further provides an insight into the 10 year narrative of social, ecological and infrastructural fallout that results from a contemporary nuclear disaster.

As articulated prior - [ Shortly after the events of March 2011, a national moratorium on nuclear energy was imposed - prior to which a third of Japans electricity was supplied by 54 regional reactors. Today just 9 of an operable 33 reactors are

Populations Displaced by Prefecture Occupied 2012 - 2017

2012

130 86 67 45 37 30 28 28 26 20 19 11 10 10 8 8 8 7 7 6 5

2017

26 51 31 40 36 26 27 26 26 9 11 5 7 5 6 4 3 6 3 5 4

100 people

Yamagata Tokyo Niigata Saitama Ibaraki Chiba Tochigi Kanagawa Miyagi Gunma Hokkaido Akita Nagano Shizuoka Aichi Kyoto Osaka Yamanashi Aomori Hyogo Iwate 0

15

30

45

56

60

75

90

105

120

135

129°E

131°E

001 002 003 004 005 006 007 008 009 010 011 012 013 014 015 016 017 018 019 020

141°E

143°E

145°E

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

43°N

43°N

1000

139°E

Megawatt hours by Reactor

Sendai Genkai Ikata Kaminoseki Shimane Takahama Ohi Mihama Tsuruga Hamaoka Sika Kashiwazaki Tokai Fukushima Daiini Fukushima Daiichi Onagawa Higashi Dori Higashi Dori Ohma Tomari

MW - Mega Watts

137°E

45°N

45°N

1692 2254 846 789 3220 2254 780 1108 3473 1613 7965 1060 4268 4546 1592 1067 1966

135°E

47°N

47°N

MW-P MW-O

3192 2600 2114 4108 4773 2367 2600 1325 -

133°E

7000

8000 2012

2017

41°N

41°N

39°N

39°N

37°N

37°N

35°N

35°N

33°N

33°N

31°N

31°N

29°N

29°N

An Atlas of Isotopes.

Population Displacement.

2017

Projected Megawatt Capacity (MW-P)

Data Reference.

Nuclear Power Plant

MEXT, Gov of Japan, DOE, Gov of U.S.

1 Square = 100 Refugees 2017

Fukushima Minpo Journal.

Opperational Megawatt Capacity (MW-O) 1 Square = 100 Refugees 2012 Prefecture Municipal Borders

1 : 10 000 000

May 26, 2011 March 2017

International Atomic Energy Agency 2020.

57

Part Two.

Essay 02

A Point of Recalibration.

Atlas 02

An Atlas of Adjustments.

A Point of Recalibration.

Essay 02

To date, the disparate remediative efforts undertaken within Fukushima have proven methodical, intensive, and above all, effective; tangible declines in ambient radiation as derived from dispersed radioisotopes, in conjunction with the reconstitution of remnant infrastructure, has come to facilitate the reintegration of displaced populations and revitalisation of regions. Though admittedly far from complete and approaching stagnation, the strategies employed thus far have succeeded in their short term objectives of cumulative decontamination and phased repopulation. However, it is at this point, and moreover it is the central contention of this thesis, that said remediative efforts are soon to approach a decisive intersection, a potential point of recalibration that with greater ambition may incur an alternative trajectory for the sites ecological and perceptual legacies within the greater lineage of nuclear energy. For there is an inevitable entombment inherit to the projected strategies, which incur implications as outlined prior, that far exceed the scope of the power plants perimeter, though manifest with true consequence. It is perhaps unreasonable to expect or insert considerations that are so far removed from the immediate contexts and constraints of this undertaking, however therein lies a domain of speculation that is able to strive for further insight, in order to derive a precedent of thought to lay foundation for circumstances of future kin.

Village, where treated soil has been deposited and encapsulated by the side of major roads for in-situ decay (MOE, Japan, 2020) under the blanket characterisation of recycling, despite a more technical classification akin to landfill.

Furthermore the interim storage and processing facilities established in the acquired context immediate to the power plant, encompass an approximate 28 square kilometres of cleared and contaminated land, inclusive of remnant forest cover, that together sit betwixt the power plants active decommission extents and the soon to be repopulated town of Okuma. Once processing activities are complete, this land has been outlined to act as an expanded annex for the concurrent dismantling of reactor infrastructure - though this of course will prove challenging in conjunction with the reintegration of proximal townships Okuma and Futaba, as said decommission efforts extend over indefinite timeframes, with the persistent movement and manipulation of highly radioactive material looming over the region. The dichotomy of repopulating from revitalising will prove palpable in a context where machined landscapes of dangerous debris perpetuate a semblance of destruction, while the localised economy remains dependent to its prolonged procedure. Finally, there is the matter of post nuclear ecologies, the various mutations and altered evolutions of flora and fauna within the region - of which prompt both intrigued analysis and projective diagnosis. This ecosystem has of course now been altered in a profound and irrevocable manner, maturing in modes utterly unique to circumstance (Watanabe et al., 2015) . Although little has been said to the determination of these ecologies in regard to protection or isolation, any strategy that seeks to intervene environmentally within this context will need to establish clear and significant distinctions regarding their status.

Upon the completion of projected excavation works in 2021, the decontamination effort in Fukushima will assume the accumulation of 14 million cubic meters of processed and contaminated topsoil, of which will require longterm protective storage in order to facilitate the elected multi decade process of natural radioactive decay (MOE, Japan, 2020).

Current propositions, as they have been made available to the public, identify research and development demonstration facilities in Iitate 61

Notably, each of these challenges entail their own unique set of spatial and temporal constraints, of which intersect at the exciting, yet daunting typological advent of post nuclear urbanism. For a clear distinction that can be made between Chernobyl and Fukushima, is that the latter is still relatively habitable, further distinguishing itself as the precipice of a new paradigm for life as defined by the anthropocene. The spatial logic of this site can in a very real sense, come to establish our first understandings of design dictated by epoch, or futurism in a distorted discourse. It is clear that current authorities intend to proceed with pragmatism as it relates to what occurs throughout this region, however as posited earlier, this circumstance is one of unprecedented opportunity, of significant determination, not only for nuclear energy, but post nuclear life, of which we may all come to know - not to imply that we will all witness nuclear disaster, but that our influence on greater systems to inadvertently destabilise and adversely impact the norms of urban living is an emergent reality, one that might be best understood through the complexities of engaging with post nuclear landscapes through a framework of opportunity.

Subsequently when read in conjunction to a context of 14 million cubic meters of accumulated contaminated topsoil, processed and portioned, awaiting utilisation while encompassing 28 square kilometres of soon to be decommissioned land. Of which much has already been cleared and cultivated for an infrastructure purpose built to systematically service soil - the logical speculation may arise, of whether to take precedent from a long lineage of Landscape Architectural practice in establishing a phytoremediative parkland, ecologically engineered to advance the decontamination of radioactive soil. For what Landscape Architectural projects often best facilitate, is the leveraging of ecological engagement for the rationales of urban constructs - most notably, Field Operation’s 2001 Fresh Kills Park demonstrated a perceptual and environmental remediation of the worlds once largest landfill.

Through a phased 50 year process of cultivating a curation of essential ecosystems, the Field Operations team were able to significantly expand the public open space and protected park land within the region, further facilitating a revitalisation of the surrounding area. This project is an exemplar of utilising landscape as a fulcrum for paradigmatic change, and therefore serves as the strongest precedent in what needs to be achieved within the immediate context of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

In a period of newfound prominence, it can be discerned that Landscape Architecture as a discipline, has evolved to distinguish itself in a concern for complex and dynamic systems particularly the urban and environmental ecologies of preexisting space. It is with this understanding that the context of Fukushima is perhaps best approached through the principles of Landscape Architecture, in a maturity of agency for the discipline, to engage not only with the material environment, but further determine the social and spatiotemporal implications which follow.

Evidently the ultimate objective of interventions within this region, should seek to leverage the ecological remediation of the sites contaminated contents, for a perceptual remediation of the post nuclear and by extension, nuclear energy more broadly. For this post nuclear landscape does not need a sarcophagus to further entrench its entombment, in that its remediative efforts thus far have allowed it the opportunity to change its trajectory, and evolve into an emblem of potential, as opposed to a default of deterrence. However what is key to comprehend throughout this contention, is the specificity of Recalibrate as a verb; for as it stands, this site and its organisational infrastructure contain all components required to execute on the expanded objective outlined - they simply necessitate a reconstitution of parts.

Therefore this subsequent speculation of design will seek to articulate through an instruction of adjustments - the staged sequence of slight interventions, that culminate in a landscape capable of unilateral remediation.

Namely, one of the remarkable insights resulting from research conducted in the Forrests of Chernobyl, is the proclivity of certain species to utilise the mechanics of phytoremediation in accelerating the nuclear decay of radioisotopes through a process of phytodegredation (Gupta, D. and Voronina, A., 2019). It has been proven that species such as Dryopteris Carthusiana (Spinulose Woodfern) have been able to effectively degrade radiocesium 134 and 137 in both cultivated and non-cultivated conditions, at rates exponential to those of natural decay (Dubchak, S., 2016). While phytoremediation has proved a prominent performative application of Landscape Architecture throughout prior decades, its utilisation has been typical to sites of post industrial heavy metal contamination, and to my understanding has yet to be formally employed within the context of radioactive remediation.

62

An Atlas of Adjustments.

Atlas 02

Interim Storage Facilities.

In order to engage with the existing conditions of site, specific to the recalibration of remnant infrastructure - an examination of functional composition is perhaps most pertinent to establishing a base of boundary conditions that can come to inform the initial parameters of intervention. As sourced from the Ministry of Environment’s documentation on remediative progress, a base overlay of site specific occupations has been re-articulated in the adjacent mapping as to attribute infrastructure to the operational directives distributed throughout site (MOE, Japan, 2020).

Evidently there are five foundational functions that constitute the sites processing of soil - in order of total area, they include: Interim Soil Storage, Longterm Soil Storage, Generalised Stockyards, Soil Separation Facilities, and Biomatter Incineration Facilities (MOE, Japan, 2020). Cumulatively, this accounts for an approximate 80% of the 28 square kilometres that is encompassed by the site perimeter, with a remainder of remnant forest cover.

Though much of the mechanical infrastructure on site will be rendered redundant by new operations, the areas of cleared and contaminated land that facilitated these prior functions, will prove essential in outlining extents of remediative program, where existing ecologies will not be impacted.

66

141°01’E

141°01’E

141°E

141°01’E

141°02’E

37°27’N

37°27’N

37°26’N

37°26’N

37°25’N

37°25’N

Okuma 大熊町

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

福島第一原子力発電所

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

An Atlas of Adjustments.

Interim Storage Facilities.

-

Contours at 5 meters

Data Reference.

Municipal Borders Landuse Boundaries

MOE, Gov of Japan.

Roads/ Highways

Residences/ Structures Interim Soil Storage Longterm Soil Storage

1 : 40 000

2020.

Open Street Map. 2020.

Stockyards

Soil Seperation Facility

67

Forest Retention.

Prior to the meltdown events of March 11th 2011, the immediate context of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant was lush with evergreen forest cover, as extending outward from nearby mountains - though in the proceeding fallout, this land posed a more pressing utility in facilitating local and regional remediative decontamination and decommission efforts (MOE, Japan, 2020).

Evidently it proved most pragmatic to store and process highly radioactive material in close proximity to its origin, as to centralise the emission of radiation in its highest concentrations. This however resulted in a significant clearing of forested land, remaining only in remnant clusters of the endemic Abies firma (Japanese Fir) and Cryptomeria Japonica (Japanese Cedar).

Subsequently in the recalibration of this site to facilitate the engineered remediation of contaminated topsoil, not only will there be an integrated effort to protect all surrounding ecologies, but to further encourage and enhance the health and longevity of these remnant swaths of existing forest cover. Therefore these emergent boundary conditions will be heavily reinforced as to ensure the balance of engineered to existing ecologies on site.

It is also worth noting the intriguing research occurring within these forests, in which mutations of the Abies firma have incurred the observations of leader shoot forking defects, in which the trees central trunk has diverted in two, producing in some instances, the maturity of duel forked conifers or more descriptively put - double headed trees (Watanabe et al., 2015). A phenomena whose research should also be further protected and facilitated by the retention of said forests.

68

141°01’E

141°01’E

141°E

141°01’E

141°02’E

37°27’N

37°27’N

37°26’N

37°26’N

37°25’N

37°25’N

Okuma 大熊町

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

福島第一原子力発電所

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

An Atlas of Adjustments.

Forest Retention.

-

Contours at 5 Meters

Data Reference.

Roads/ Highways

MOE, Gov of Japan.

Residences/ Structures

Open Street Map.

Municipal Borders

Landuse Boundaries Forest for Retention Forested Regions

1 : 40 000

2020.

2020.

69

Viable Land.

Through the correlation of preceding assessments in prior infrastructural organisation in conjunction with regional remenanted forest cover, an evaluation of the sites viable land has been ascertained through a process of progressive exclusion. Within the extents outlined, every square meter will be eligible for topographic terracing and the proceeding re-occurrent remediative planting, as to facilitate the sites recalibrated objective.

70

141°01’E

141°01’E

141°E

141°01’E

141°02’E

37°27’N

37°27’N

37°26’N

37°26’N

37°25’N

37°25’N

Okuma 大熊町

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

福島第一原子力発電所

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

An Atlas of Adjustments.

Viable Land.

-

Contours at 5 Meters

Data Reference.

Roads/ Highways

MOE, Gov of Japan.

Residences/ Structures

Open Street Map.

Municipal Borders

Landuse Boundaries Viable Land

1 : 40 000

2020.

2020.

71

Essential Roads.

Given the wide distribution of the sites prior operations, in addition to a context of acquired residential land, the existing network of infrastructure to date is convoluted and counter productive, and thereby requires a process of optimisation through it which it may best facilitate the sustained and effective decommission of reactor infrastructure, while maintaining comprehensive access for remediative regimen. The resulting mapping demonstrates roads to be retained in black, while red indicates all that is to be removed.

This curation of paths were established with a concern for the existing major roads that are best built to service heavy vehicle access, while remaining cognisant of the more opportune tracks that best traverse the site.

72

141°01’E

141°01’E

141°E

141°01’E

141°02’E

37°27’N

37°27’N

37°26’N

37°26’N

37°25’N

37°25’N

Okuma 大熊町

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

福島第一原子力発電所

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

An Atlas of Adjustments.

Essential Roads.

-

Contours at 5 Meters

Data Reference.

Roads/ Highways

MOE, Gov of Japan.

Residences/ Structures

Open Street Map.

Municipal Borders

Landuse Boundaries Roads for Removal Essential Roads

1 : 40 000

2020.

2020.

73

Site Paths.

Furthermore, in parallel to vehicle access, pedestrian accessibility throughout site is of comparable significance, not just for the facilitation of remediative programme, but for the curated exhibition and experiential articulation of this performative landscape. If perceptual remediation is to follow that of the ecological, the public interface of design proves just as critical as the planting palette. Subsequently a number of opportune contours have been selected throughout the sites existing topography, as to establish a sequence of rich traverses through which all site conditions are exhibited. It is also pertinent to note an aversion of the power plants closer context, as to mitigate potential disruptions and ensure certain thresholds of exposure.

74

141°01’E

141°01’E

141°E

141°01’E

141°02’E

37°27’N

37°27’N

37°26’N

37°26’N

37°25’N

37°25’N

Okuma 大熊町

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

福島第一原子力発電所

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

An Atlas of Adjustments.

Site Paths.

-

Contours at 5 Meters

Data Reference.

Roads/ Highways

MOE, Gov of Japan.

Residences/ Structures

Open Street Map.

Municipal Borders

Landuse Boundaries Site Paths

Essential Roads

1 : 40 000

2020.

2020.

75

Regions.

In an acknowledgement of the sites immense scale and relative complexity of programme, a taxonomy of compartmentalisation is really the only way to exercise effective control over the preposed design methodology - therefore an operational logic of regional exclusion has been established as to allow for a sequence of more manageable site extents. At the highest level, there are seven discrete ‘Regions’, that have been defined in their relative clusters of proximal remediative land. At this scale, they dictate conditions such as broad high-level phasing, like the sequence of construction and maintenance, or realms of strategic tests within site wide experiments. This categorisation further allows for an immediate shorthand of site management, and might even enable the opportunity of the sites organisational logic to translate into tangible divergences in experiential qualities. However this is simply the highest level of spatial abstraction, as a sequence of further subdivision ensues.

76

141°01’E

141°01’E

141°E

141°01’E

141°02’E

37°27’N

37°27’N

37°26’N

37°26’N

37°25’N

37°25’N

Okuma 大熊町

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

福島第一原子力発電所

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

An Atlas of Adjustments.

Regions.

-

Contours at 5 Meters

Data Reference.

Roads/ Highways

MOE, Gov of Japan.

Residences/ Structures

Open Street Map.

Municipal Borders

Landuse Boundaries

2020.

2020.

Region Dividers

Essential Roads Region

1 Square = 50 x 50 m

1 : 40 000

02

77

Sectors.

The next strata of operational compartmentalisation are distinguished as ‘Sectors’, and have been delineated based on islands of remediative land, as resulting from the intersection of roads and or exploratory paths - in essence, the lowest resolution of uninterrupted land present on site. At this level, there is a far greater degree of self determination in individual operations - specifically the planting plans and correlative phasing of remediation cycles, the instalment and management of network infrastructure, and perhaps most significantly, the enforcement of restricted access as defined by radiation via dose rate.

As discrete parcels of land, Sectors are likely to prove the first point of reference in executing the many operational functions of site, and therefore it is accordant that much of the Regions phasing will be determined by predominate trends at the Sector level, irregardless of macro Regional objectives. This dynamic has been established as to prioritise the effective and efficient remediation of contaminated soil, in an effort to maintain public accessibility, over larger directives that may prove less pertinent; a productive analogy for this dynamic would be that of the nation, state and city.

78

141°01’E

141°01’E

141°E

141°01’E

141°02’E

37°27’N

37°27’N

37°26’N

37°26’N

37°25’N

37°25’N

Okuma 大熊町

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

福島第一原子力発電所

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

An Atlas of Adjustments.

Sectors.

-

Contours at 5 Meters

Data Reference.

Roads/ Highways

MOE, Gov of Japan.

Residences/ Structures

Open Street Map.

Municipal Borders

Landuse Boundaries

2020.

2020.

Sector IDs

Essential Roads Region

1 Square = 50 x 50 m

1 : 40 000

02

79

Path Extents.

Though the sequential segmentation of site is largely of operational influence, this translates to the tangible in a restriction of curated access, as enacted by the open and closure of individual path extents. This executive mechanism effects in direct accordance with remediative phasing, as it pertains to the outstanding levels of ambient radiation resulting from progress. In a sense, this comes to establish a landscape of mitigative risk - where the threat is both immediate and indiscriminate, yet can be managed and mitigated as to facilitate a spectacle of intrigue within the environment, that ultimately enables its operation. Consequently this attenuation of danger to facilitate process necessitates a spatial and operational driver for establishing networks of curated access, as this enables a landscape that is defined by threshold based restrictions on movement - a core tenet of what I project post nuclear urbanism has and will come to entail. Therefore it is through the operation of these individual extents that the central contention of site is enacted and achieved.

80

141°01’E

141°01’E

141°E

141°01’E

141°02’E

37°27’N

37°27’N

37°26’N

37°26’N

37°25’N

37°25’N

Okuma 大熊町

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

福島第一原子力発電所

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

37°24’N

An Atlas of Adjustments.

Path Extents.

-

Contours at 5 Meters

Data Reference.

Roads/ Highways

MOE, Gov of Japan.

Residences/ Structures

Open Street Map.

Municipal Borders

Landuse Boundaries

2020.

2020.

Remediation Paths Forest Paths Region

1 Square = 50 x 50 m

1 : 40 000

02

81

Part Three.

Essay 03

Potentials of the Post Nuclear.

Atlas 03

An Atlas of Algorithms

Potentials of the

Post Nuclear.

Essay 03

That which is post nuclear, might best articulate as a material heredity of profound anthropogenic influence; for the gamma emission generated as a result of destabilised atomic nuclei, register with weight in both geologic signature and societal affect. Post nuclear landscapes by extension, are those of adverse nuclear consequence, wether the subject of exploit, accumulation or contamination, that further function within a paradigm of irrevocable impact.

somewhat rudimentary though effective theoretical apparatus of the ‘potential’. Akin to an exercise in iteration, the ‘potential’ that I posit, is a framework through which parameters are defined in the form of relationships and objectives, as to enable the generation of a multitude of circumstance and form. In a sense it is a workflow that frames an approach to computational design, where by algorithms lead not only to the automation of geometry, but rather the sequence of logic inherit to the design.

Evidently there is a hyper specific sentiment that has sustained through the lineage nuclear energy as a result of the lasting impressions entombed by the preservation of these landscapes, of which incur an obstinance in the adoption of next generation nuclear technologies. It is the contention of this thesis that such a quarantine of ecologies, and interment of potential habitation, under the pretence of inexorable detriment, functions only to facilitate a narrative. Though there of course is an essential acknowledgment required to reconcile the very tangible failings of these technologies, and more importantly the incomprehensible impacts they have come to incur on the hundreds of thousands of lives implicated - there does persist a discourse that is not concerned with fact, and in consequence compromises an essential actor in the mitigation of exponential climate change.

Subsequently this contention does not advocate for the perpetuated use of obsolete light water reactors, but simply suggests that the advent of next generation molten salt reactors, merit a degree of consideration currently impeded by perception.

For the ultimate objective of this speculation is to devise a framework through which the ecological remediation of Fukushima as a post nuclear landscape, may facilitate a perceptual remediation for nuclear energy more broadly.

This functions primarily though the definition of three key considerations: first is the objective of form - using phytoremediation as an example, this would manifest in a concern for its facilitation, such as the terracing of existing topography.

Second, are the parameters of variance, this might entail the ratio of certain dimensions, such as a planter that is 1:2:4 in height width and depth, or the degree to which the terraces average pitch would depart from an existing gradient. Finally, third is that of the functional directive - what common variable might determine a manipulation of relevant parameters, such as the input of a more aggressive remediative target that would subsequently require larger planter beds and may incur a terracing output that departs more dramatically from the base topography. This example is of course quite rudimentary, but demonstrates the basic sequence of logic and hierarchy of factors for generating a framework derived design. For in essence, the apparatus of a ‘potential’ is about taking formal relationships to their logical conclusion in a distillation of their most fundamental variables of influence. The intention is that this would instil a design with far greater resilience in enabling the capacity for recalibration - though perhaps more importantly, it is a process that necessitates a first principals approach to design development, in extracting the most fundamental values and objectives of a

However in pursuit of such a framework, I have come to develop and utilise a somewhat 85

design, as to quite literally imbue them into the logic of site.

Therefore, in the formulation and generation of a ‘potential’ for the post nuclear, specifically in service of a recalibrated strategy for Fukushima, the most elemental objective was defined as perceptual remediation facilitated by that of ecological remediation - a most central contention that came to inform all subsequent geometric intervention. In establishing this duel development of site, the spatial relationships of form and function are then inextricably entangled in operational directive, requiring a union in mutual variable influence; for example, perceptual remediation will likely prove to be a function of maintained public access, however the expedition of ecological remediation would incur a conflicting persistence of elevated ambient radiation, enforcing the restriction of access - therefore in a formulation of balance between maximum rates of remediation and minimum extents of ensured public access, the predetermination of variable dependencies are able to effectively execute mutual objectives of site. This foundational relationship is then furthered through a sequence of logic akin to that which was articulated earlier, where shifts in the targets of remediative output are enacted through dynamics in the composition of interventions, and subsequent phasing schedules, all of which in ultimate service of the central objective.

However, it is pertinent to note, that there exists a wealth of conjuncture regarding this realm of design that might assert, in the formulation of a framework for iteration, there lacks a resolution of intent that successful design demands - and to this I contend, perhaps parenthetically - as architectural design encounters an ever expanding spectrum of spatiotemporal scales, there emerges a threshold of effective manual input, a point of diminishing return for the bespoke analogue, in which the formal elements of design are no longer of effective resolution at their predetermined dimensions and destinations, but are better deployed as predefined relationships, in ratio, response and orientation, as to accomodate for circumstantial specifics across every inch of these expansive sites. For computation is just that, it is the execution of procedure as predefined - at no point is a non machine learning algorithm generating anything other than what was intended, and so this false anxiety of the ‘non-designed’ that is the purview of an entrenched traditionalism inherit to architecture, asserts somewhat of a false dichotomy - for thought as articulated by pen is of equal intent to that as defined by code - the notion that an expression of feeling is constrained to the freedom of form in movement, underestimates ones ability to engage in a similar fluidity of thought when adequately literate in computation. And so in a very real sense, the defining of this apparatus of ‘a potential’, is in essence a demonstration of how to imbue code with intent, and to design though relationships of form, a process that is arguable more expressive and fluid than the discrete determination of unilateral dimension by hand.

It is the intention that these spatiotemporal relationships are better illustrated in the following Atlas of Algorithms, whereby generated design elements are communicated via their procedure in an articulation of function over form, through the framing of operative ‘field reports’.

86

An Atlas of Algorithms Atlas 03

Fukushima Mori 福島森

Ministry of the Environment

環境省

Field Report.

Fukushima Mori

福島森

001A

11.03.2031

V.English

r01-s009, r05-s003,

r07-s021,

*Automated Document

r06-s010,

Fukushima Mori 福島森

Field Report.

11.03.2031

001A *Automated Document V.English

Fukushima Mori - Potential 001A In this automated output of post nuclear potential, the following field reports will seek to articulate the speculative spatial and procedural dynamics inherit to this iteration of algorithmic output. The following factors of which will be addressed: 1. The Decentralised Supply Chain of Radioactive Soil, 2. The Schematics of Proposed Remediative Planting and Phasing, 3. An Overview of Network Infrastructure, and 4. The Management of Remnant Forest and Spontaneous Ecologies.

Each documentation set contains the curation of outputs generated by the various grasshopper definitions that encompass the design of this speculation; all geometry including that of vehicles and vegetation have been parametrically derived, thereby incurring the potential to change in iteration. This in inline with the designs core framing device of a Potential, and allows for its execution across a multitude of variations within the predefined parameters and relationships established.

The reports mode of graphic communication should further be understood through a framework of procedural expression - in which the manipulation and extrapolation of axonometric projection cultivated in conjunction with plan and section details are utilised to effectively communicate the operational logic of site. This does not function in an indifference to construction documentation or hyper-tangible aesthetics, but rather supports an explicit concentration on the foundational operations of site, of which are central to this designs ultimate ambition.

Consequently this report should be read through the perspective of a ‘potential’ that exists within a greater range of alternative outputs.

Fukushima Mori Management Authority.

Ministry of the Environment.

福島森 環境省

Field Report. 001A

11.03.2031

Report Contents.

Pack 001A *Automated Document V.English

log Time/Date.

Region/Sector.

Region_01-Sector_009

Priority.

09:45 - 09.03.2031

Decentralised Supply Chain of Radioactive Soil

*High

Required: Review/ approve points of interface

Region_07-Sector_021

01:55 - 10.03.2031

Schematics for Remediative Planting

*High

Required: Review/ approve initiation of phase transition

Region_06-Sector_010

11:15 - 26.02.2031

Overview of Network Infrastructure

*Low

Required: Review updated radiation monitor deployment

Region_05-Extent_003

05:00 - 15.02.2031

The Management of Remnant Forest and Spontaneous Ecologies Required: Review report of current observations in mutation

94

*Low

Check.

Field Report. 001A

11.03.2031

R01-S009 37°27’N

37°27’N

37°26’N

37°26’N

37°25’N

37°25’N

Okuma 大熊町

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

R05-S003

福島第一原子力発電所

R07-S021 37°24’N

37°24’N

R06-S010

37°24’N

37°24’N 141°01’E

Site Extents: 100%

141°01’E

141°E

141°01’E

141°02’E

[141°01’E - 141°03’E, 37°23’N - 37°28’N]

1:40 000

95

Fukushima Mori 福島森

Field Report.

11.03.2031 09:45

001A Region_01-Sector_009 V.English

Fukushima Mori - The Decentralised Supply Chain of Soil.

The byproduct of a site that specifies its central function in iterative remediation, will inevitably incur an expansive economy of soil - an elaborate supply chain of containment, storage, transit interior and exterior to site, installation, maintenance, decommission, and executive oversight. Evidently to design a site that facilitates the remediative process, inherits and assumes the design responsibilities of such a supply chain, and in this instance, one which entails radioactive exposure. Subsequently the following field report will articulate a proposed network of logistics to engage with this economy of soil, as it relates to each point of interface.

Existing efforts on site have already pre portioned the soil into plastic bags of single cubic meters, however in a recalibrated approach, the soil will be further divided into 0.125 cubic meter units, encapsulated by a steel containment system that further facilitates an in-situ remediation throughout site. This methodology allows for the deployment of soil throughout its full lifespan without required removal, mitigating potential points of exposure, and ensuring a basic modular and uniform geometry that the entire network can accomodate. This self contained form of unitisation further enables the open storage and transit of soil with less concern for specialised accommodative measures - rather it allows for a convenient network of decentralised urban depots, whereby stockpiles may integrate back into the communities and contexts from which they came - ideally stimulating specific nodes of the local economy, while advocating for a recalibrated strategy of remediation.

Finally, once the soil encounters site, it will rely immensely upon the rover network a highly modular transport solution that has been designed to facilitate the access of infrastructure throughout all site conditions. They will prove essential in deploying, installing, maintaining and decommissioning the soil within all contexts. Ultimately this soil contaminant system is but a logical conclusion to the sites multiscalar exercise in operational compartmentalisation.

Fukushima Mori Management Authority.

Ministry of the Environment.

福島森 環境省

Field Report. 001A

11.03.2031

Fukushima

福島市

Futaba 双葉町

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

福島第一原子力発電所 Okuma 大熊町

1:400 000

Soil Transit Route

Location

Urban Soil Storage Depot.

Chugen-cho, Fukushima-shi.

Time

Vehicle

5:00 AM

Soil Keitora [light truck] 軽トラ

仲間町

114 National Highway.

5:10 AM

Soil Keitora [light truck] 軽トラ

Greater Okuma.

6:30 AM

Soil Keitora [light truck]

国道114号

大熊町

軽トラ

Soil Transfer Facility.

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

6:40 AM

Region_01-Sector_009 Remediative Planting.

-:-- AM

Soil Keitora [light truck] 軽トラ

福島第一原子力発電所

Route 001 - Dist: 78.2 km. ETA: 1:40 hrs.

98

Soil Site Rover

Approval

Chugen-cho, Fukushima-shi. 仲間町

[1400 Units]

Urban Soil Storage Depot.

[60 Units]

[1400 Units]

Soil Keitora [light truck]

99

軽トラ

Fukushima City. pop. 287357. 福島市

Soil Transportation Vehicle.

[60 Units]

100

Field Report. 001A

11.03.2031

Soil Containment Units

Gate Scaffolds

Radiation Monitors

Cargo: 12 x Units

Cargo: 5 x Partitions

Cargo: 6 x V.2_Multi

Fukushima Daiichi, Okuma. 大熊町

[120 Units]

[4 Rovers]

Soil Transfer Site.

[Rover Deployment]

102

Unit V.1 Soil Containment

Dimension3 =

Volume =

0.5 meters

0.125 meters3

[Modular Base for Multi Stack.]

103

Fukushima Mori 福島森

Field Report.

11.03.2031 01:55

001A Region_07-Sector_021 V.English

Fukushima Mori - Schematics for Remediative Planting As the central function of site, there is a resolution of remediative planting and phasing that is essential in communicating the projects feasibility. Subsequently this field report will seek to articulate both the material and operative compositions of this process throughout its sequence of staging.. Perhaps the most fundamental point of procedure in enabling this program, is the formation of land and its means of facilitating the integration of contaminated soil for controlled remediation. Given the sites undulating and inconsistent topography, a methodology of terracing akin to that of China’s high elevation rice patties was adopted in pursuit of a site specific solution for the engineering of consistent cultivation. The resulting forms are the product of a grasshopper script that is programmed to standardise intervals via minimal intervention.

Of subsequent priority are the hyper-accumulating species that perform this essential process of phytodegredation to accelerate the decay of radionuclides within contaminated soil as to enact remediation (Gupta, D. and Voronina, A., 2019). Although there is a framework in which the effectiveness of species are reevaluated in a test phase before being deployed in accordance - for the purpose of precedent, the specific species employed within the following field report are based on those observed to effectively accumulate C134 and C137 in the forests of Chernobyl (Dubchak, S., 2016), with consideration to climate. As articulated prior, all planting will occur within the containment units that the soil is stored in, incurring the modularity to stack for expanded root depth. Once deployed, each unit stack will connect into an external filtration system for the treatment of contaminated runoff and or possible leaching.

Finally, remediative phasing is a sector specific process, and accounts for the automated distribution of species in accordance with predetermined thresholds of biodiversity, that further take into account the transfer coefficients of specific species, extrapolated in regard to soil deposition densities and the duration of time until maturity, in order to then determine a number of key considerations. First the rate of plant mass harvesting and incineration, second, the number of replantings per unit required, third, the seasonality of establishing each species, and fourth, the projected point of completion, and how that might influence restrictions in the area as a result of radiation via dose rate.

Together these factors culminate in what is outlined to be an effective remediative strategy for site.

Fukushima Mori Management Authority.

Ministry of the Environment.

福島森 環境省

Phase 01: Deployment

Phase 02: Development

Phase 03: Deactivation

[Biomass Harvesting] >Burn Cycle<

[Seeding]

[Active Remediation]

Region_07-Sector_021

106

Common Cow-Wheat

Eagle Fern

s004

Malampyrum Pratense

Spinulose Wood Fern

s002

Pteridium Aquilinum

s001

Dryopteris Carthusiana

L6-A

L5-A

L4-A

L3-A

L2-A

L1-A

1:60

Active Rates of Accumulation/ Per Species

s001

Dryopteris Carthusiana

590

s002

Pteridium Aquilinum

500

s003

Maianthemum Bifolium

170

s004

Malampyrum Pratense

160

s005

Trientalis Europaea

072

s006

Rubus Saxatilis

056

s007

Calluna Vulgaris

045

s008

Convallaria Majalis

040

s009

Vaccinium Myrtillus

029

s010

Vaccinium Vitis-idaea

028

Species

t.c.

200

100

code

300

400

500

600

t.c. - transfer coefficient

107

Fukushima Mori 福島森

Field Report.

11.03.2031 11:15

001A Region_06-Sector_010 V.English

Fukushima Mori - Overview of Network Infrastructure As active remediation efforts incur the intermittent emanation of excess radiation, the enforcement of site wide threshold based restrictions prompt a high degree of automation in overall site management - subsequently this field report will outline the network infrastructure necessitated to enable site specific operations.

The most critical components of this network are perhaps the micro-sievert monitors which actively observe a radius of ambient radiation via the measure hourly dose rate - these primarily function to inform the automated gate systems that control non authorised access throughout the sites various path extents, while also communicating real time data on omnidirectional screens for public awareness. Such monitors make up what could be considered the sites central nervous system, as their consensus ensures the inherit safety of all visitors and workers within the region.

All forms of monitors, gates, barriers and rovers are further facilitated access across site, through the highly modular elevated path infrastructure. This parametrically derived path is fitted with a number of functional features, the most effective of which is perhaps the parallel steel pipes that extend continuously either side of the walkway - these act as a permanent scaffold for which all site specific artefacts are compatible and are able to be deployed.

Although the sites most fundamental ambition is to facilitate the iterative remediation of contaminated soil, it is through these essential elements of infrastructure that this process is both enabled and exhibited, resulting in a more direct realisation of objectives on site.

Fukushima Mori Management Authority.

Ministry of the Environment.

福島森 環境省

Field Report. 001A

11.03.2031

LIVE FEED: Region_06-Sector_010 - RMS-010-05, RMS-010-07 Radiation Dose Rate via Micro-Sieverts per Hour 40 [05]

35 30 25 20 15

[07]

10 05 00 uSv Date Time

14.02.2031 04:00

14.02.2031 08:00

14.02.2031 12:00

14.02.2031 16:00

14.02.2031 20:00

15.02.2031 00:00

15.02.2031 04:00

Radiation Monitoring System [RMS]

1:100

>True/False<

>5.5 M Radius<

RMS-010-05

RMS-010-07

>5.5 M Radius<

RMS V.2_Multi

>Open/Close<

110

Region_06-Sector_010

RMS V.1_Single

RMS V.2_Multi

RMS-010-05

RMS Traveler

RMS V.Rover

Notification Feed: R06-S010 Feb 10.

15:04

Phase 2 Soil Deployment Scheduled -17:30 14.02.2031

111

Region_06-Sector_010

RMS V.2_Multi

1:50

112

Fukushima Mori 福島森

Field Report.

11.03.2031 05:00

001A Region_05-Extent_003 V.English

Fukushima Mori - The Management of Remnant Forest and Spontaneous Ecologies Despite the immense extent of earthworks and infrastructural instalment throughout site, the regions of remenanted forest cover, in their ecological balance, will be approached through a framework of minimal intervention.

These regions are in a sense, the truest post nuclear ecologies occurrent on site - as rigorous documentation has come to observe a multitude of mutations in the forests endemic conifers (Yasukawa et al., 2019)(Watanabe et al., 2015), with additional research looking into a range of flora and fauna that have indicated a tangible influence, be they spiders, moneys, boars and or blossoms. Therefore while forest floor paths will be established as to connect disparate islands of remediative land throughout this expansive site, much of the forested area will be under active protection, with iterative documentation and research ensuring the preservation and conservation of these species in their altered evolutions.

For within the theoretical framework of this speculative project, exists a familiar tension betwixt post nuclear urbanism and post nuclear ecologies, which function to mirror that of our more contemporary contexts - and so it appears that in the design of landscape, there will always exist a conflicting sense of concession and reconciliation.

Fukushima Mori Management Authority.

Ministry of the Environment.

福島森 環境省

Control.

Observed Mutation.

*Leader Shoot Forking Defect

Region_05-Sector_003

116

Japanese Fir [Abies Firma]

R05-S003

05

06

07

Site Extents: 35%

Region_05-Sector_003

1:40 000

Cryptomeria Japonica Japanese Cedar

B Abies Firma Japanese Fir

A

117

Spontaneous Ecology Documentation

D B

B

B RMS-V.2

B

A

B

Stone Rover

B A

D

B A A Research Rover

C B

D

B

B RMS-V.2

B B

B C

A A

D

A

Region_05-Sector_003

118

A

A

*a vision of decommission: operation ryokan

121

Epilogue

The context of Fukushima, be it material, perceptual or bureaucratic, is of incomprehensible complexity, in that little can be said of its management with a true sense of confidence. And while that does not insulate it from opinion or ambition, there lies in the weight of its implications, tangible understandings that may incur profound inflections on contexts of greater consequence.

It is not the ambition of this thesis to delineate a definitive solution for this context - the formulation and framing of a ‘potential’ is strategic, in that it certainly takes a position and posits a design intervention, but concurrently conditions this as a speculation, a thought experiment that simply exercises an iteration of informed opinion. While I maintain a strong contention in regard to nuclear energy and its relationship to post nuclear landscapes, of which I vehemently stand behind - it is their extrapolated interactions within the socio-political contexts of Fukushima that I wish to qualify, as to not explore these ideations on the post nuclear, with an insensitivity to those that incur its tangible realities. The truths held by those impacted will always supersede the speculation of external observers, and it is with an overwhelming sense of empathy, that I hope the language used, ideas explored, and positioned stated, throughout this document, offer a respect for that which has occurred, and those who have been effected.

The post nuclear, is unfortunately a construct that cannot be explored without an initial implication of severe human consequence - however at the core of this project is an understanding, that often it is the way we choose to proceed that comes to define what has happened.

123

Appendix.

i ii iii

Precedent Study References Acknowledgments

Precedent study.

Landschafts Park Duisburg Nord Latz + Partners 1991.

Latz + Partners 1991 revitalisation of a retired iron factory, central to Germany’s Ruhr industrial district, was significant in its methodologies of post industrial engagement, specifically seeking to reconcile the industrial materials and infrastructures of site with that of a semi-naturalising landscape intent on remediating existing contamination concurrent to site activation via various means of public program. The evolution of this site over time would come to establish the project as a proof of concept for negotiating phytoremediative site occupation with public engagement, while demonstrating a successful revitalisation strategy for post industrial contexts.

EXISTING CONDITIONS

The specific methodologies that I intend to appropriate and have thus extracted for re-articulation centre around the projects various negotiations of contaminated top soil resulting from the sites industrial processes. As demonstrated through the following diagrams, Latz + Partners have utilised the decommissioned sinter plant and its sequenced containment systems to isolate and cap, isolate and remediate, or simply cap and dispose of soils, in order to establish program within that region.

Although each approach entails a discrete set of merits and complications, the innovative aspect of this project is in the deployment of these methodologies in tandem, allowing them to function as a spectrum of remediative action that skews to the sites contextual requirements.

METHOD ONE - REMOVE/ REPLACE

FIG A1

FIG A2

DISPOSAL AND REPLACEMENT OF CONTAMINATED TOP SOIL HEAVY METAL CONTAMINATION OF TOPSOIL

INFRASTRUCTURE FILLED/ CAPPED FOR PROGRAMATIC USE

SINTER PLANT INFRASTRUCTURE

INFRASTRUCTURE FILLED WITH CONTAMINATED SOIL AND CAPPED WITH FRESH TOPSOIL FOR PROGRAMATIC USE

METHOD TWO - REDISTRIBUTE/ CAP

INFRASTRUCTURE FILLED WITH CONTAMINATED SOIL AND PLANTED WITH HYPERACCUMULATING SPECIES CAPABLE OF PHYTOEXTRACTING HEAVY METAL COMPOUNDS

METHOD THREE - PHYTOREMEDIATION

FIG A3

126

FIG A4

New Safe Confinement, Chernobyl Vinci, Bouygues, Novarka, 2019.

Completed in 2019, the ‘New Safe Confinement Structure’ was established to contain and further decommission the Chernobyl power plant following its 1986 meltdown, and compensate for the decomposition of its proceeding ‘Sarcophagus’ containment system. The immense semi cylindrical structure was constructed parallel to the nuclear power plant, and then moved via its track system to encompass the reactor building, as to contain emanating radiation while ensuring the strategic decommission of internal structures.

decommission demonstrates an effective approach to engaging with the many complexities of post nuclear landscapes, allowing in other contexts the potential for contemporaneous public activation. Furthermore its modular and articulating mechanisms present an intriguing approach to non intrusive intervention - a critical variable when dealing with fragile radioactive structures. Finally, the material composition and engineering of the structures outer shell, capable of containing the sites immense centralised source of radiation, is an essential precedent for deploying comparable decommission systems on other post nuclear sites.

Although the approach is antithetical to much of my contention, its methodology of containment concurrent to

FIG B1

MID SECTION

FIG B2

EAST END

WEST END

GALVANISED SUPPORTS STEEL OUTER SKIN 2ND INSULATION LAYER

OUTER SHELL FIG B6

1ST INSULATION LAYER VAPOR BARRIER CORRUGATED STEEL DECK PURLIN FRAME

FIG B3

Fresh Kills Park

Field Operations, 2001.

system that I am more intrigued by and interested in interrogating through the following sequence of diagrams. . Evidently the municipal waste and its volatilised byproducts require a significant degree of control, both in order to ensure the publics safety and meet regulatory standards, while also harnessing the gas, which incurs its own infrastructural subsystem to facilitate its safe and efficient centralisation - this culminates in the design of a soil cap system, remarkably effective in protecting the public concurrent to a sub terrain engagement of the material in question; A system that would likely prove useful in the context of radioactive remediation.

Field Operations’ 2001 Fresh Kills Park, demonstrated a transition of the worlds once largest landfill, into a naturalised parkland encompassing a multitude of ecological typologies, all while situated atop and supervising the engineered and harnessed decomposition of 50 years of New York Cities municipal waste. Their 30 year strategic program for the site is emblematic of a phased approach that seeks to iteratively establish ecological conditions and ensure the evolution of a true ecosystem, as opposed to simply greening a soil cap However, while the above ground ecological engineering is aspirational, it is the composition of their soil cap

... .

GRATE VEGETATION

150 mm min

TOP SOIL

VALVE

VEGETATION LANDFILL GAS WELL HEADER PIPE

TOP SOIL

PROTECTIVE BARRIER

600 mm

PROTECTIVE BARRIER

DRAINAGE LAYER IMPERMEABLE PLASTIC LINER GAS VENT LAYER

100 mm 30 mm 100 mm

DRAINAGE LAYER IMPERMEABLE PLASTIC LINER GAS VENT LAYER

SOIL BARRIER

300 mm

SOIL BARRIER

...

GAS MAIN

MUNICIPLE LANDFILL WASTE

MUNICIPLE LANDFILL WASTE

FIG C1

FIG C2

127

Mizokami, S. and Kumagai, Y., 2014. Event Sequence of the Fukushima Daiichi Accident. Reflections on the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident, pp.21-50.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan, 2013. National Census. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

Nakajima, T., Ōhara, T., Uematsu, M. and Onda, Y., n.d.

Environmental Contamination From The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster. Cambridge University Press, pp.50-111, 167-212.

Nakanishi, T., O’Brien, M. and Tanoi, K., 2019.

Agricultural Implications Of The Fukushima Nuclear Accident (III). Singapore: Springer, pp.141-152.

References.

OpenStreetMap. 2020. Openstreetmap. [online] Available at: <https://www.open- streetmap.org> Our Friend the Atom, The Magical World of Disney.

1957. [video] Directed by H. Luske. Disney.

Asanuma-Brice, C., 2020. NUCLEAR MIGRANTS. Available at: <https://dunrenard. wordpress.com/2018/01/08/nuclear-migrants/>

Pris.iaea.org. 2020. PRIS - Home. [online] Available at: <https://pris.iaea.org/pris/>

C-navi.jaea.go.jp. 2010. Characteristics Of Caesium-134 And Caesium-137 [online] Available at: <https://c-navi.jaea. go.jp/en/background/remediation-following-major-radiati on-accidents/characteristics-of-caesium-134-and-caesium137. html>

Saito, K. and Onda, Y., 2015. Outline of the national mapping projects implemented after the Fukushima accident. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 139, pp.240-249.

Tagami, K., 2016. Effective Half-Lives of Radiocesium in Terrestrial Plants Observed After Nuclear Power Plant Accidents. Impact of Cesium on Plants and the Environment, pp.125-138.

Cravens, G., 2007. Power To Save The World. Knopf.

Dubchak, S., 2016. Distribution of Caesium in Soil and its Uptake by Plants. Impact of Cesium on Plants and the Environment, pp.1-18.

Transatomic Power Corporation, 2016. NEUTRONICS OVERVIEW NO- VEMBER 2016 V 1. 1. [online] Cambridge: Transatomic Power Corporation. Available at: <http://www.transatomicpower.com/ wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Neutronics-White-Paper-v1.1.pdf>

Field Operations, 2001. Fresh Kills Park.

Greller, A., 2007. Wormwood Forest: A Natural History of Chernobyl Wormwood Forest: A Natural History of Chernobyl Mary Mycio. The Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society, 134(3), pp.431-432.

U.S. Department of Energy, 2011. Results Of Airborne Monitoring By The Ministry Of Education, Culture, Sports, Science And Technology And The U.S. Department Of Energy. U.S. Department of Energy.

Gupta, D. and Voronina, A., 2019. Remediation Measures for Radioactively Contaminated Areas.

Vinci, Bouygues, Novarka, 2019. New Safe Confinement Structure, Chernobyl

Hardie, S. and McKinley, I., 2014. Fukushima remediation: status and overview of future plans. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 133, pp.75-85.

Watanabe, Y., Ichikawa, S., Kubota, M., Hoshino, J., Kubota, Y., Maruyama, K., Fuma, S., Kawaguchi, I., Yoschenko, V. and Yoshida, S., 2015. Morphological defects in native Japanese fir trees around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Scientific Reports, 5(1).

Hubbard, C., 2014. Fukushima And Beyond: Nuclear Power In a Low-Carbon World. Taylor & Francis Group.

Ignasi de-Sola Morales, 1995 Terrain Vague

World Nuclear Association, 2011. Comparison Of Lifecycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions Of Various Electricity Generation Sources. London: World Nuclear Association.

The Independent Global Nuclear News Agency. 2020.

World Nuclear Map. [online] Available at: <https://www.nucnet.org/world-nuclear-map> Josen.env.go.jp. 2020. Interim Storage Facility | Environmental Remediation : Ministry Of The Environment, Government Of Japan. [online] Available at: <http://josen.env.go.jp/en/storage/

Yasukawa, C., Aoki, S., Nonaka, M., Itakura, M., Tsubokura, M., Baba, K., Ohbayashi, H., Sugawara, I., Seyama, T., Uehara, I., Kaida, R., Taji, T., Sakata, Y. and Hayashi, T., 2019. Intake of Radionuclides in the Trees of Fukushima Forests 1. Field Study. Forests, 10(8), p.652.

Latz + Partners. 1991. Duisburg Nord.

129

Acknowledgments.

It is with a great sense of respect and admiration, that I would like to sincerely thank all of those that have helped to cultivate my education throughout the Masters of Landscape Architecture at RMIT. This project is in essence, a culmination of practice and perspective, as developed through an engagement with the many thoughtful and challenging studios and seminars, of which I was fortunate to contribute.

The interest, instruction and mentorship extended, by each of the following tutors, has proven both invaluable in enabling my growth as a designer and essential in the realisation of this project as milestone - all for which I am immensely grateful.

130

Thank you.

Brent Greene Jessica Stewart Dr Yazid Ninsalam Dr Philip Belesky Dr Heike Rahmann Alistair Kirkpatrick Anthony Sharples Elise Northover Tom Black

131

Potentials of the

Post Nuclear.

The Strategic Recalibration of Remediative Efforts in Fukushima.

Daniel Ichallalene

RMIT School of Architecture & Design 2021