The evacuation zones resulting from the Chernobyl accident have been copied onto a map of California, with the point representing the Chernobyl nuclear power plant placed over Diablo Canyon.

The northwest winds that flow 34% of the time past Diablo Canyon would direct the fallout cloud towards Los Angeles. The furthest evacuation zone is 160 miles downwind, which is exactly the distance from Diablo Canyon to downtown Los Angeles.

This simulation illustrates the pervasive reach of nuclear fallout which travels borne on wind and weather.

Many parts of Europe and Asia are still (in 2005) affected by Chernobyl fallout depositited in 1986. Originally many scientists believed that fallout would be washed away in a few months.