Diplomat In Austria Tells AP Japan Radiation Has Reached California

 
 Here's the latest episode of the never-ending reality series,Why Nobody Trusts the Government: Everybody on the West Coast isfreaking outbecause the radioactive plume is reaching North America today, from the melting nuclear plants in Japan, and everybody would probablyreallylike some comforting, hourly updates along the lines of "Yep, we're talking about minuscule, barely detectable levels of radiation that isn't going to hurt anyone." Especially after the Obama Administration'ssurgeon generalsaid it was a good idea to have Potassium Iodide tablets on hand, and especially with all the "Chernobyl gave thyroid cancer to at least 6,000 kids" historical reports floating around the Internet. Anyway, the radiation detection machinery picked up traces of the Japanese nuke cloud in Sacramento.

Again, here's the source:  A diplomat in Vienna speaking anonymously to an Associated Press reporter, in Austria:  

VIENNA (AP) — Radioactive fallout from Japan's crippled nuclear plant has reached Southern California but the first readings are far below levels that could pose a health hazard, a diplomat said Friday.

The diplomat, who has access to radiation tracking by the U.N.'s Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, cited readings from a California-based measuring station of the group.

Initial readings are "about a billion times beneath levels that would be health threatening," the diplomat told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because the CTBTO does not make its findings public.

Hooray for transparency! [ ABC News ]