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![Fall Guy Part 12](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/18/LBQ3HOF6L4KDB5WBQAU6EODAJA.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
Obviously, the cleanup process is much more involved than this, but you can imagine how difficult it is to keep all that radioactive dust from getting into everything. Phil Broughton is a treasure trove of stories and information. But, if you follow his blog, you’ll learn that he takes the decontamination process very seriously. Something a graduate student learned the hard way when they made a poorly-thought out April Fool’s prank. Phil had this to say about the tremendous task of nuclear cleanup:
A while ago, I did a couple of comics about how plants (including tumbleweeds) were being used to help clean up radioactive material. Here’s Phil again:
After I drew the phytoremediation comics, the number one question asked by readers was: “So, what happens with the plants after they’ve absorbed the radioactive elements?” Apparently, it’s a very real problem that cleanup crews have to work with. Here’s what Kathryn Higley said when I asked her about the sunflowers being planted at Fukushima:
![Bags of radioactive biomass on the side of the road.](https://www.popsci.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/18/F24HLLF6D67UMXBXEVSD24BLOA.jpg?strip=all&quality=95)
You can read more about the Fukushima sunflowers over at Japan Times.