Radiation sign. Image courtesy of Tim Van Gorp.
As the world watches the catastrophe caused by a massive earthquake in Japan unfold, Bay residents are also worried that radiation from four debilitated nuclear plants could drift over the Pacific and impact the region. Officials maintain that such a risk is very small and while they are monitoring the situation, they’ve been given no cause for concern yet. That could change if a full meltdown occurs at one of the plants. Scientific American has a good primer on what happens during a nuclear reactor meltdown. [Read more - San Jose Mercury News, Scientific American]