(FILE) On this 19 January 2006 file pict

(FILE) On this 19 January 2006 file picture technicians check the contamination level in the reactors of the Angra II nuclear plant during the uranium refueling, in Angra dos Reis, 250km from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. California on March 14, 2011 continues closely watching the crisis at a Japanese nuclear plant, but officials downplayed the threat that a radioactive cloud blown across the Pacific could pose for the US West Coast. There are six operational nuclear plants in Latin America. AFP PHOTO/VANDERLEI ALMEIDA (Photo credit should read VANDERLEI ALMEIDA/AFP via Getty Images)