Another financial crisis possible but unlikely, experts say

With Japan's stock market experiencing losses unheard of since the most recent financial crash took hold in 2008, and world markets almost universally in sharp decline on Tuesday, it raises the question: Are we seeing the start of another market crisis?

"That is certainly a possibility; hopefully not a high one," said Adrian Mastracci, portfolio manager at Vancouver's KCM Wealth Management.

Japan's benchmark stock index, the Nikkei 225, lost 10.55 per cent Tuesday. A daily loss one-tenth that magnitude is seen as a bad day in normal times.

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If the containment at the nuclear power plant damaged by Japan's devastating earthquake fails, a potential radiation plume from a full core meltdown could reach Tokyo, a U.S. scientists' organization said on Tuesday.

Japan faces a potential catastrophe after a stricken nuclear power plant exploded and sent low levels of radiation floating toward Tokyo, prompting some people to flee the capital and others to stock up on essential supplies.

The Union of Concerned Scientists also said a "jerry-rigged" cooling system at the Japanese plant would be hard to maintain if all workers there were evacuated.

Nuclear power and safety experts at the group said they were "very concerned" that ongoing activities at the plant would become more challenging for on-site workers. A larger radiation plume could travel hundreds of miles (km), the scientists said in a telephone briefing.

A crack in the containment vessel could allow radiation to exit the reactor in case of a core meltdown, the scientists said. They said the Japanese government should extend the evacuation zone around the troubled Fukushima Daiichi power station.
(Reuters)

Who are the Fukushima 50?

Who are the "Fukushima 50" -- the workers trying to take regain control of Japan's stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant?

Twitter messages and blog posts by the workers' families offer an inkling of the "Fukushima 50," so nicknamed because the 180 employees at the site work in 50-person shifts.

One of the workers is a veteran power plant worker, a 59-year-old who volunteered to take on the assignment, according to Jiji Press, a Japanese news wire service, quoting a woman who claimed to be his daughter on Twitter. The job puts him at risk of exposure to dangerous amounts of radiation that could cause death or lead to a higher risk of cancer.

latimes.com