This is one of the world's largest earthmoving projects. It has required the removal and storage of 13 million cubic meters of earth, the equivalent of 4,300 Olympic-size swimming pools. The site, which Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has been visiting since Tuesday, February 18, also contains more than 1,000 water tanks and 300,000 cubic meters of waste. This is what remains of the Fukushima nuclear site devastated by the tsunami of March 11, 2011. He is there to check that the soil removed and contaminated water are being properly treated.

This visit is crucial as it has come at a time when Japan is publishing its energy roadmap for the next 25 years. And this plan calls for a massive return to nuclear power in the country. Stopped dead in their tracks by the disaster in 2011, the country's reactors have been restarting very gradually since 2015. Today, 14 are in operation, producing 8.5% of the electricity consumed in the country. The plan is to return to 20% before 2040. Some 20 other reactors will need to be reopened or built to reach this target.

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