Fear Goes Nuclear

摘要

Here's the worst-case sce-nario: sometime soon, workers at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant will realize they can't pump sea-water into the cores of the wrecked reactors fast enough to keep up with the steady heating. The temperature in the core will exceed 5,000℉ (2,760℃), causing hundreds of uranium fuel rods to slump to the bottom of the containment vessel like melted wax. The fuel will burn through the foundation of the plant, sinking into the ground and contaminating the water table. Pressure in the cores will climb high enough that the vaultlike vessels will no longer be able to withstand it. Before long they will erupt in a radioactive cataclysm, spreading a deadly, carcinogenic cloud across Japan and-depending on the whims of the wind-around the world.