Scientists: Fukushima Radiation Could Arrive in April

No radiation from stricken nuclear power plant in California -- yet.

Fukushima may be coming after all.

Nearly three years after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant melted down following a massive earthquake, radioactive elements from the disaster could reach California, scientists said Monday.

Scientists have spent the past few months dismissing a series of shrill reports that say radiation from the disaster has already washed up on California shores, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

That hasn't happened "yet," oceanographer Ken Buesseler told the newspaper. But by April, traces of cesium -- one of the telltale elements from the meltdown -- could appear in "low levels," according to the newspaper.

Buesseler and volunteers are monitoring seawater collected in 18 sites on the West Coast and in Hawaii for the cesium elements, since federal agencies aren't.

Once the water in April is tested, Californians should know if Fukushima is truly here -- or if we're just falling victim to "fear-mongering on the Internet," said physician Roger Gilbert. 

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