back to article Pokemon GO-ZILLA: Safety fears after monsters appear in Fukushima danger zone

Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Co is upset that Pokemon Go players on the hunt for monsters are being lured into the Fukushima Nuclear Exclusion Zone. The fictional creatures were apparently spotted close to the destroyed Daiichi nuclear reactors by Tepco officials. The presence of the collectible cyber-animals could tempt …

  1. NotBob

    Why not

    Leave it there as a darwinian population control?

    1. Sebastian A

      Re: Why not

      Because radiation levels are too low to cause any actual harm. You could eat the topsoil there and you'd die of boredom before experiencing any symptoms related to radiation.

      1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

        Re: Why not

        Well, I don't know. You could hit a particularly juicy spot. It's never a good idea to let alpha emitters inside.

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

          1. User McUser
            Boffin

            Re: Why not

            Iodine 131 has a half-life of ~8 days so there's basically none of it left in the exclusion zone.

        2. RIBrsiq

          Re: Why not

          >> It's never a good idea to let alpha emitters inside.

          True. But then again, it's never a good idea to eat top-soil in general in the first place!

          1. PNGuinn
            Mushroom

            ... It's never a good idea to eat topsoil...

            Tell that to the worms.

      2. cray74

        Re: Why not

        Because radiation levels are too low to cause any actual harm.

        Most of Colorado has higher background radiation than Fukushima's exclusion zone. Colorado is mostly at high altitude, so you get elevated cosmic ray doses, and sits on a lot of uranium-rich granite. Mmm, radon.

    2. phuzz Silver badge
      Facepalm

      Re: Why not

      Because someone might go into the zone, and bring back contamination (eg) on the soles of their shoes, which could make someone else sick.

      If someone is just putting themselves at risk, fair enough, if they start putting other people at risk, that's a different matter.

    3. RIBrsiq
      Facepalm

      Re: Why not

      People in general, I find, just don't understand radiation and how the regulations surrounding it work.

      Which's extremely unfortunate and may eventually end up being a species-wide "[D]arwinian population control" mechanism.

  2. Joe H.

    Oh NO, they say he's got to go...

    GO GO Godzilla!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T65rW_SIzg0

    Japan, radiation and monsters, the way it was meant to be.

    1. Mark 85

      Re: Oh NO, they say he's got to go...

      It's sad that Mothra has been overlooked in the legends and lore of radiation mutants. We need a huge moth to fly around.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Pokemon/Godzilla aside, anyone else finding this recent admission pretty sobering:

    http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/fukushima-nuclear-meltdown-was-covered-up-plant-operator-admits-zn25kbwpr

    http://www.cbsnews.com/news/fukushima-tepco-power-japan-nuclear-meltdown-apologizes-cover-up/

    1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

      Re: Pokemon/Godzilla aside, anyone else finding this recent admission pretty sobering:

      Not really as this is how bureaucracies function again and again and again. And again.

    2. cd / && rm -rf *

      Re: Pokemon/Godzilla aside, anyone else finding this recent admission pretty sobering:

      fukushimaupdate.com (not connected to Tepco) is worth watching.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Pokemon/Godzilla aside, anyone else finding this recent admission pretty sobering:

        fukushimaupdate.com (not connected to Tepco) is worth watching.

        Except they are very much into anti nuclear conspiracy theories which makes most of their output useless.

        1. sabroni Silver badge

          Re: which makes most of their output useless.

          Probably, but there's no harm in listening to what people have to say before you discount their opinions. Always easier to argue from a position of knowledge.

          And of course saying "conspiracy theory" is a great way to cover up a conspiracy....

          1. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

            Re: which makes most of their output useless. / conspiracies

            Tinfoil will block alpha radiation, so win-win!

          2. Alan Brown Silver badge

            Re: which makes most of their output useless.

            "And of course saying "conspiracy theory" is a great way to cover up a conspiracy...."

            Virtually all conspiracies are about covering up the cockup which led to XYZ bad thing happening, or at least ensuring that a peon takes the fall. Management are good at that when their asses are on the line.

        2. Hans 1

          Re: Pokemon/Godzilla aside, anyone else finding this recent admission pretty sobering:

          >Except they are very much into anti nuclear conspiracy theories which makes most of their output useless.

          Well, it depends on which side you are standing ... IAEA or Greenpeace, basically ... and WHO is a WHOre to the IAEA. Don't believe me, that is all fine and good:

          http://independentwho.org/en/who-and-aiea-aggreement/

          Now, those are also "anti-nuclear-guyz", however, they make an undeniable point.

          You might also want to believe scientific publications on the matter, published on http://www.eea.europa.eu, right ?

          Eat this, mate:

          http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/late-lessons-2/late-lessons-chapters/late-lessons-ii-chapter-18

          Nuclear energy allows the rich and powerful to get richer on the back of future generations and they use every dirty trick to make nuclear power seem safe and sound ...

    3. Alan Brown Silver badge

      Re: Pokemon/Godzilla aside, anyone else finding this recent admission pretty sobering:

      There were other nuke plants along the coastline which didn't get wiped out by the tsunami.

      Tepco were told that the location of the generators was unsafe but put them there anyway and the japanese nuclear regulators let them do it. Mind you they also let Monji get fired up without properly checking for leaks too. 5000 tons of radioactive molten sodium in your basement is a bit of a problem to clean up.

      This was a management failure, not a technical one - and as others have pointed out the actual amount of radioactive material released is negligable. That said: Roll on LFTR technology. Can't catch fire, can't explode (hydrogen or radioactive steam varieties), can't melt down, can't overheat, can't vent radioactive steam/water, doesn't waste 99.9% of the mined material, doesn't need water cooling (which means it doesn't need siting next to a river/ocean and doesn't need derating in hot weather) and is significantly more thermally efficient than conventional civil nukes thanks to running a lot hotter.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Gotta do it

    All these unusual perspectives on Pokémon Goaway are nothing more than a continuation of probably the largest and most subversive PR effort for a game ever. PG fatwah, PG at the airport, PG and radiation, PG and shootouts, etc, etc, etc, puke. My hope is this saturation attack leads to its quick demise so it will just go away and get out of my face. And get off my lawn dammit.

    1. Gene Cash Silver badge

      Re: Gotta do it

      Well PG's gotten my 51yo fat ass out from in front of the computer, blinking into the bright sunshine and fresh air. For me, it's basically an excuse to go for a walk, and a little entertainment while I do so.

      It's sad that I have a really pretty path around a beautiful lake, and I don't use it.

    2. sabroni Silver badge
      Happy

      Re: PG fatwah, PG at the airport, PG and radiation, PG and shootouts, etc, etc, etc,

      Tried Tetleys?

  5. Camilla Smythe

    Hai!

    Hai!

    You phone is here!

    We create next Pokemon here!

    Go catch Pokemon!

    Hai!

    You phone is here!

    We create next Pokemon here!

    Go catch Pokemon!

    Hai!

    You phone is here!

    We create next Pokemon here!

    Go catch Pokemon!

    Hai!

    You phone is here!

    We create next Pokemon here!

    Go catch Pokemon!

    Hai!

    You phone is here!

    We create next Pokemon here!

    Go catch Pokemon!

    Hai!

    Lost GPS signal on your phone!

    Glug Glug Glug.

  6. itzman

    The picture that belongs here is..

    http://vps.templar.co.uk/Cartoons%20and%20Politics/haytor.jpg

  7. Afernie

    Up next...

    Radioactive Pikachu found lurking in Pripyat.

    1. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge

      Re: Up next...

      That's a Pripyachu!

  8. VinceH
    Facepalm

    If it's not radiation danger zones at Fukushima, it's dangerous mud flats at Burnham-on-Sea - and there are probably plenty of other examples of stupid players.

    I won't be at all surprised if we eventually do see a report of a death as a result of someone venturing somewhere stupid to 'catch' a Pokemon.

    The game should therefore officially adopt this more 'authentic' method of catching Pokemon as a safety feature. Attach string to the phone so it can be retrieved, allowing it to go somewhere too dangerous for the owner.

    1. S4qFBxkFFg
      Go

      "The game should therefore officially adopt this more 'authentic' method of catching Pokemon as a safety feature. Attach string to the phone so it can be retrieved, allowing it to go somewhere too dangerous for the owner."

      With a Sonim (or equivalent), this could actually work...

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      The Japanese don't strike me as the type of people who would be fucking stupid enough to risk their lives for a Pokémon.

      Now, Westerners on the other hand...

      1. Geoffrey W

        RE: "The Japanese don't strike me as the type of people who would be fucking stupid enough to risk their lives for a Pokémon."

        Are you kidding? Search for "japanese weirdest things". Its the wierdest place on earth. They probably already have a TV show which gets half naked people to go and take a bath in the old cooling pools of the Fukushima power plant.

    3. Mark 85

      I won't be at all surprised if we eventually do see a report of a death as a result of someone venturing somewhere stupid to 'catch' a Pokemon.

      We're getting close now to this. There's been reports of robbings, beatings, people being hit by cars. There's also reports of drivers playing the game and racing to the next Pokémon. I saw a vid where a guy walked off a pier into a harbor. They fished him out and it turned out there was another guy already in the water from doing the same thing. Sorry... no sympathy here for those Darwin candidates.

    4. x 7

      " it's dangerous mud flats at Burnham-on-Sea - and there are probably plenty of other examples of stupid players."

      And as I said in the last thread on this game - pokeycrap appearing in the sea / mud at Morecambe. Only a matter of time before a kid gets mired/drowned or both

  9. Teiwaz

    Maybe a Fairy Mask (as featured in Majoras Mask) so the pokemon will fly to them.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If I had my way, I'd set up Pokémon Go spots in the middle of Safari Parks.

    Pref. where the Lions and Tigers are, and you have to get out of the car to get to them...

    Or, in the middle of the White House lawn. (Gotta keep the Secret Service in the job!)

    1. Whiskers

      Pokemon in The Whitehouse

      Pikachu in the Oval Office? (I think that's the only name of a Pokemon I know).

    2. Geoffrey W

      Why don't you set up a lure on your front lawn so you can taunt them in person from your window?

  11. Dave Bell

    I can see how some places can slip through in the initial set-up. I have seen stuff on how the pin-point locations can be amended, but it will take time for the reports to be checked and acted on.

    This is more complicated, because it's about how Pokemon appear. I have no idea of how that's controlled.

    It is less that two weeks since the game went active in the UK. Half the local Pokestops are churches of one sort or another. There's some sign that one or two locations are affected by more than random GPS error.

    Pokemon GO has some of the same strange location fixing that can be seen on web-based business directories, which seem to get their money from general advertising rather than delivering customers to businesses. If anyone is trying to link a new Pokestop to their business, I think they need to take care with a GPS fix. Just clicking on your phone could be misleading. As I recall, it's worth averaging the GPS reading for a location over a good long time, maybe a full 24 hours.

  12. smartypants

    Pokemon Exclusion Zone?

    That's brilliant.

    People should flock to the security zone in Fukushima to take advantage.

    If only my house were built on rock rather than clay. I could then point out similar levels of radiation and have my area added to the Pokemon Exclusion Zone.

  13. Nixinkome

    God zilla

    The monsters are mutating into Pokémans now.

    How can Nintendo be making a loss? I hope someone there sold some high performing shares whilst it was thought that Nintendo owned them.

    As for luster [see another article's comments], rose gold vehicles are on Stop until the world's largest company has seen others' mistakes.

  14. Chris King
  15. earl grey
    Mushroom

    Fixed that for you

    The power plants were ruined by devastating incompetence in March 2011.

  16. PNGuinn
    Facepalm

    Tepco cannot reveal where the Pokemon were spotted ...

    Thereby ensuring that ALL sites will be inundated with "visitors" ....

    Well done lads.

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