A nuclear meltdown is a term used to describe damage to a
nuclear reactor's core. The core of the nuclear reactor is where the radioactive fuel is
kept. As the radioactive fuel undergoes fission, heat is released and this has to be
removed with an appropriate mechanism using liquid or gas coolants. The heat that is
removed is used to operate the engines that produce
electricity.
If there is a problem in the cooling mechanism
and it is also not possible to stop the nuclear fission reaction, the complete assembly
in which the fuel is kept starts to heat up to extremely high temperatures. As a very
large amount of heat is released in fission reactions, the melting point of the material
comprising the assembly is soon reached and it starts to melt. If the nuclear reactor's
core melts it can lead to escape of the highly radioactive nuclear fuel and cause
extensive environmental damage.
The earthquake in Japan has
led to the cooling system in a few of its nuclear reactors getting damaged, with one
nuclear reactor having reached temperatures that could lead to a meltdown unless the
steps that are being taken to tackle the situation are
successful.
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