A team of visiting nuclear experts warned Japan against becoming "over-conservative" in the future as the country works to clean up as much as 2,400 square kilometers of land affected by the Fukushima disaster. A group of 12 experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency will present its final report on its nine-day mission to the Japanese government next month, but the team has already voiced its opinions on certain remediation methods. It said that removing layers of topsoil contaminated by radiation, a method currently being considered by Japan, would be impractical. Japan's environmental ministry has also cautioned that finding a storage place for 29 million cubic meters of topsoil could create a headache for the government. "Where applicable, there are methods that do not require storage. There are about 60 remediation technologies available," said team leader Tero Tapio Varjoranta. Some of the methods included storing topsoil in various layers and using it for road construction. The Fukushima prefecture has received 143 preliminary proposals for the $14 billion Japan has set aside for clean up by companies, universities, non-profit organizations, and individuals for projects to decontaminate water and soil. "Estimating how much decontamination will cost is very difficult, so the government is trying to figure out rough figures through test projects," said Tadashi Inoue of the Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, who is advising the Fukushima government. He added, "The cost will be enormous." For the story on the IAEA team, see http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/10/14/uk-japan-nuclear-iaea-idUKTRE79D2FM20111014. For the story on cleanup bids, see http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-14/fukushima-clean-up-attracts-bids-for-14-billion-in-projects.html.