Nov. 26, 2010
Mouse hunt on for radioactive rodent
Sixty mousetraps have been set at a nuclear plant in the U.S. in an effort to catch a radioactive mouse living on the grounds but so far the rodent has proved illusive. It has been captured on film by one of several cameras strategically placed by someone. (See photo inset)
Earlier this month a radioactive rabbit was discovered at the Hanford nuclear facility in the state of Washington and staff there believe at least one mouse living nearby was contaminated.
Radioactive mouse droppings were found in the same part of the grounds as the contaminated rabbit droppings that led to the discovery of the radioactive rabbit at the site a few weeks earlier.
No one yet knows how the animals were exposed to the radiation but one theory is that both the rabbit and the mouse ate or drank a common source of radioactive material. Another possibility is that the mouse came into contact with the contaminated rabbit droppings. A third conjecture is that the rabbit was a trained animal terrorist seeking to destroy the nuclear facility and enlisted the mouse to assist him or her but this conjecture was rejected by everyone but the conjecturer, who was placed on administrative leave.
A call for a nuclear strike on the plant was deemed premature and reckless but remains an option.
A favorable piece of news was that the radioctive droppings were not found anywhere near parts of the facility that are open to the public, usually visiting school children.
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