In this incident, the Corium resembles the shape of an elephant’s foot, hence the name. The result was a collection of stalactites and stalagmites, steam valves clogged with hardened lava, and the large black mass that would later be dubbed the Elephant’s Foot.Īfter six months of investigation, researchers discovered the Elephant’s Foot. Oozing through pipes and eating through concrete, the radioactive lava flow from reactor Number 4 eventually cooled enough to solidfy. Much of it flowed into the bottom of the reactor vessel and eventually melted through it. It began to melt down – the radioactive materials used as fuel get hotter, due to their unstinting emission of high-energy particles, until they literally melt, turning into something like lava.Īt Chernobyl NPP, the loss of coolant caused a meltdown of the fuel, some of which was scattered into the atmosphere. With a glowing heart no longer shielded by tons of steel and concrete, the core could no longer be cooled. A second explosion, even more massive followed shortly after the first, belching broken core material into the air, spreading fire and radioactive detritus. Now catastrophically damaged, the remaining cooling water from broken channels seeped into the reactor as well, turning directly into steam as it touched the increasingly hot nuclear fuel rods. There were two explosions: the first explosion from the steam inside the reactor was enough to send the 4-million-pound lid of the reactor assembly through the roof of the building. Even in this photo, which was taken 10 years after the Chernobyl incident, the radiation would have been extremely dangerous.
So as you can see, these things are an actually non-living monster, which can kill you within minutes if you’ll be standing next to it for a few minutes. Heat and power output continued to rise until the water that was used to cool the entire reactor vaporized, generating massive amounts of pressure.
#CHERNOBYLITE MINERAL CRACK#
Their insertion into the hot core caused the rods themselves to crack and fracture, locking them in place. Workers at the power plant attempted to manage the surge in power and the alarming increase in the core’s temperature caused an even larger power surge.Ĭontrol rods that are served to manage core temperature were inserted too late.
On April 26, 1986, during a routine test reactor 4 at the Chernobyl NPP experienced a power surge that triggered an emergency shutdown. After the nuclear fires were finally controlled, workers scrambled to contain the invisible dangers of the Chernobyl core. The rods liquefied below, melting through the reactor vessel to form Corium. How was Elephant’s Foot formed?ĭuring the nuclear explosion of Chernobyl, radioactive plumes rose high above the plant, poisoning the area. Over time, the Elephant’s Foot decomposed. The material was dubbed “corium,” after the part of the reactor that spawned it. In fact, the mass was comprised of only a small percentage of fuel the rest was melted concrete, sand, and core shielding that all melted and flowed together. After careful examination, they determined that it wasn’t all nuclear fuel. Liquidators near corium at the destroyed part of the Reactor 4, Chernobyl NPP.įrom a safe distance, liquidators rigged up a crude wheeled camera contraption and pushed it towards the Elephant’s Foot. It consists of nuclear fuel, fission products, control rods, structural materials from the affected parts of the reactor, products of their chemical reaction with air, water and steam, and, in the event that the reactor vessel is breached, molten concrete from the floor of the reactor room. Why? As Wikipedia is saying, Corium is (also called fuel containing material (FCM) or lava-like fuel containing material (LFCM)) is the lava-like mixture of fissile material created in a nuclear reactor’s core during a nuclear meltdown. In fact, it is the most radioactive place in the whole world. Of course, to anybody unaware of what ‘ Corium ’ (is, this does indeed appear to be some melted iron or something like that. The words “haunting”, “eerie” and “strange” certainly come to mind at first glance.
Well, obviously, it’s not an elephant’s foot, but a melted core of destroyed Reactor #4 which resembles its shape. Maybe you didn’t hear about it and you are wondering what an elephant’s foot is doing in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
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