Sanwa has debuted the Fukushima – a cheap Geiger counter for the iPhone that allows users to monitor their surroundings for possible radiation.
The device was the brainchild of Japanese researcher Takuma Mori, who was inspired by the need for a cheap, user friendly Geiger counter after the Fukushima meltdown.
“Immediately after the disaster triggered by the earthquake and tsunami of March 11 in the northeast of the archipelago, the cheapest Geiger counters cost 60,000 yen ($780, 570 euros) and were hard to find,” Takuma Mori told the AFP.
In March, an 8.9-magnitude earthquake led to a devastating tsunami where gigantic waves crashed over coastal cities in northern Japan. The quake caused the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Plant to go into auto-shutdown mode. The backup power systems came on but went quickly offline due to the flooding and earthquake damage, which destroyed the powerlines.
When the electricity failed, the overheating reactors released radioactive material, making Fukushima the worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
The device is expected to go on sale for iPhones in the next few days. It will cost around 9,800 yen or $127 in US dollars.
You can preorder the Geiger Fukushima now in the Japan Trend Shop for $206.
