Front of the house in question, Setagaya, Japan (image via Yoshiaki Miura)
It turns out that the Fukushima nuclear plant is not the only radiation threat in Japan. Since the accident, residents across Japan carry individual radiation detectors. A hotspot was been detected just outside of Tokyo all centered by a mysterious abandoned house.
In a Tokyo suburb, Setagaya, a house has sat abandoned for many years. From just outside the house a measurement of 2.7 microsieverts was confirmed by local officials. According to the finders, it would be likely that a total yearly exposure of 14 millisieverts would not be unlikely for people in proximity to the house. The Japanese government will evacuate an area when radiation levels hit 20 millisieverts.
The cause is a collection of bottles in the house's basement containing radium-226. Officials speculate that the bottle may be left over from early 1900s related manufacturing products. Radium was often used as a glow-in-the-dark paint on clock, instrument gauges in aircraft, watches, etc, in the early part of the century.
The recent reports of high radiation levels in Tokyo were blamed on the Fukushima disaster, may have just been this house all along. I never thought the networked radiation detector idea would ever be so useful. For the record, the detectors used were not the hacker-space models.
Eavesdropper
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