Experts say radiation exposure from the stricken nuclear power plants in Japan is a concern. But so far, they don't think people living in the United States are at risk.
Japanese officials said a small number of workers at the damaged nuclear power plants are sick from radiation exposure.
Outside one of the plants, a level of more than 10,000 times the normal background radiation has been detected.
Arjun Makhijani is president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research in Maryland. He believed the risk to people here on the West Coast is minimal.
"You know, it's thousands of miles away," Marhijani said, "and the dilution is very, very great, in terms of individual danger."
At the same time, Makhijani pointed out after the Chernobyl disaster, there was measurable fallout throughout the Northern Hemisphere. The people at greatest risk, obviously, were those who lived close to the plant.
