http://video.foxnews.com/v/4593222/radioactive-fallout-reaches-california
Extremely tiny levels of radiation from Japan reached California early Friday, a Viennese diplomat has told the Associated Press.
Detectors in Southern California have picked up no radiation so far.
The diplomat, who spoke to the news agency on condition of anonymity, said readings from a Sacramento measuring station tracked by the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization were "about a billion times beneath levels that would be health threatening."
Experts including physicists at Chapman University and UC Irvine say any radiation reaching the United States would be extremely dilute and would present no health risk.
If any trace levels reach Southern California, it would most likely be in the afternoon, said Menas Kafatos, founding dean of the Schmid College of Science at Chapman, which uses satellite data to make forecasts including Pacific winds.
U.S. officials, including President Obama and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, say they expect no harmful levels of radiation to reach the United States.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District is posting daily updates on its website on readings from radiation monitors, including one in Anaheim; no radiation, even in trace amounts, had been detected as of late Friday morning, said Philip Fine, the agency's atmospheric measurements manager.
He said that although some models forecast air masses from Japan reaching the West Coast today, the models are flawed and the timing is highly uncertain.
"I wouldn't be surprised if very small amounts were detected," Fine said. "But these sensors are very, very sensitive. We would detect increases even at levels well below any type of significant health risk."
The district is working with public health agencies to monitor the situation, he said.
"The numbers we're seeing are just in line with what we've been seeing for years," he said. "If it does increase we're going to have updates on our web site."
