Radioecologist Nick Beresford from Centre of Ecology and Hydrology in Lancaster explained that once in soil, caesium will become bound to mineral components, which limits its uptake into plants.

BBC: Fukushima fallout fears over Japan farms

While the caesium is hard for plants and animals to take up when it is tightly bound to the soil, once in solution (dissolved in water) it can be more readily absorbed.

BBC: Daunting challenge of Fukushima clean-up

The impact will not, however, be sufficiently energetic to melt the lunar soil and release any water that is bound in hydrated minerals.

ECONOMIST: Creative destruction

If anything, the soil seemed inimical to life: there was so much iron in it that any whiff of oxygen was quickly bound into rust.

NEWYORKER: The Martian Chroniclers