The west coast of the United States will soon be affected by low levels of radiation from the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe, according to scientists.

The nuclear disaster came in March of 2011 when a massive and deadly earthquake rattled Japan, killing at least 15,000 people and injuring 6,000 in the process. It was learned last year that the radiation leaked into the ocean, which has made it easier to cover longer and further distannces.

Although scientists and chemists are doing further investigation into how much radiation it could be as well as the potential issues that could arise from it, the expectation is that it shouldn't be as serious to humans and it is supposed to slowly fade away over time.

"I'm not trying to be alarmist," Ken Buesseler, a chemical oceanographer, said last week, according to the USA Today. "We can make predictions, we can do models. But unless you have results, how will we know it's safe?"

Allison M. Macfarlane, who serves as a chairperson for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said in an interview with the New York Times that people are now becoming more aware of these issues.

"Fukushima woke up the world nuclear industry, not just the U.S.," she said. "It woke everybody up and said: 'Hey, you didn't even think about these different issues happening. You never thought about an earthquake that could create a tsunami that would swamp your emergency diesel generators and leave you without power for an extended period. You never planned for more than one reactor going down at a site, you have to think about that now.' "

For those of you on the West Coast of the United States, have you heard anything about this in the local areas? Feel free to let us know what you think in the comments section located below.