Tokyo Electric Power Co. injected boric acid into the No. 2 reactor of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant early Nov. 2 because of possible nuclear fission inside the reactor.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. injected boric acid into the No. 2 reactor of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant early Nov. 2 because of possible nuclear fission inside the reactor.
TEPCO officials said workers detected minute traces of xenon in gas from the reactor containment vessel at the No. 2 reactor and injected the boric acid at about 2:50 a.m. on Nov. 2 in an effort to suppress any nuclear fission.
Radioactive xenon has a short half-life and is produced by nuclear fission. Nuclear fission involves the splitting of the nuclei of atoms into two fragments and the conversion of part of the mass into energy.
TEPCO officials said monitoring posts within the grounds of the Fukushima No. 1 plant had not detected any change in radiation levels.
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