"I'm sure I saw a Pikachu over there"

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings has requested that Pokémon GO developer Niantic remove the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant from its database after discovering that the app spawns Pokémon on the site.

The plant was partially destroyed by a nuclear reactor meltdown in March 2011, and still poses a serious risk in terms of radiation levels. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (Tepco for short) says that it has discovered Pokémon on the site using the app, as well as at the nearby Fukushima Daini plant and the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant.

A warning has been issued regarding site security after three teenagers entered a nuclear power plant in the US. Tepco has also banned its employees from playing the app when on site.

Fukushima governor Masao Uchibori has added his own comments on the matter, pointing out that he and his prefectural government will be looking into ways of preventing access to power plant sites and drawing more attention to the dangers involved.

This isn't the first case of this kind in Japan - the city government of Nagasaki has already asked Niantic to remove Pokémon from Nagasaki Peace Park, a memorial to victims of the 1945 atomic bombing. Niantic has previously stated that it will seriously consider such requests.

The Japanese minister of education, culture, sports, science and technology Hiroshi Hase has said it is "gratifying" that a Japanese-made brand is reaching such high levels of fame around the world, but warned that the location-based gameplay could put players in danger, and has urged caution.

[source theguardian.com]