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When the power level reached 500 MW, the operators of the next shift switched on the automatic power regulating system. But the power regulator was defective, so the target value for total power output regulation could not be set correctly. The reactor’s power level decreased to an unusually low 30 MW.
In this type of reactor, when power is decreased, the concentration of xenon-135 (an isotope) in the reactor core increases temporarily. Xenon-135 is a very effective neutron absorber, which meant that as too much xenon-135 was being produced, the reactor was now acutely in danger of being xe-contaminated.
Reactivity was also diminished by the rising concentration in xenon-135. |
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Fallout
