UPDATE: “Japan raised the nuclear alert level from a four to a five, on par with Three Mile Island. This decision has shocked many nuclear experts who thought it should be higher.” Please see my Comment below: “Thanks, RiaD!”
(cross-posted at firefly-dreaming.com)
From the AP: Diplomat says minuscule fallout reaches Calif.
– 1 hr 50 mins ago
LOS ANGELES – Government experts in the United States are keeping a close eye on any radioactive particles that could travel from Japan, and they may already be seeing trace amounts.A diplomat who has access to radiation tracking by the U.N.’s Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization told The Associated Press in Vienna that initial readings show tiny amounts of radiation have reached California. But it’s not dangerous in any way – “about a billion times beneath levels that would be health threatening,” the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the organization does not make its findings public.
U.S. government experts also insist there’s no threat to public health from the plume, but they are still closely monitoring the situation with detection monitors deployed along the West Coast. . . . (emphasis mine)
Obama also sought to reassure the nation:
Obama’s statement came as he tried to reassure a worried nation that “harmful levels” of radiation from the Japanese nuclear disaster are not expected to reach the U.S., even as other officials conceded it could take weeks to bring the crippled nuclear complex under control. . . .
I went to NukeFree.Org, which has on-going updates of the whole situation. I noted the following — and while I cannot vouch for the accuracy of the content and I confess utter ignorance in the premises, I do know there are always attempts to downplay bad situations.