The atomic chain reaction at the heart of Japan's worst ever nuclear accident is over, the Govenor of the affected region said early Friday morning. Two workers remain in a critical condition and over 300-thousand residents are being told to stay inside their homes. The levels of radiation at the processing plant in Tokaimura are now about five times above normal limits after soaring to 15-thousand times normal. Workers accidentally pumped too much liquid uranium into a tank of nitric acid while making nuclear fuel. The accident led to Japan's first ever self-sustaining nuclear fission chain reaction.
Nuclear fission is the idea behind the atomic bomb.
When neutrons hit uranium, atoms split and huge amounts of energy and radioactivity are released. The plant was not designed to contain an accident of this sort. Two workers remain in critical condition, suffering from shock. They have diarrhea, a fever, red skin and a high white blood cell count. All are symptoms of radiation sickness.