New crisis at crippled Fukushima nuke power plant?

Tokyo, Nov 2(ANI): Radioactive particles associated with nuclear fission have been detected at Japan's crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, suggesting that one of its reactors could have a new problem.

According to the Daily Express, officials said that gas from inside the plant's No.2 reactor indicated the presence of radioactive xenon, which could be the by-product of unexpected nuclear fission.

Boric acid was injected through a cooling pipe as a precaution because it can counteract nuclear reactions, the report added.

A Nuclear Industrial Safety Agency spokesman, however, said that the detection of the gas was not believed to indicate a major problem, but its cause was being investigated.

The nuclear power plant was damaged by the devastating March 11 9.0-magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami.

It has been releasing large amounts of radioactive material, and the nuclear emergency level is currently on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, described as the world's worst ever-peacetime nuclear event. (ANI)