General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: This Fukushima Steam- are there any good sources? [View all]FBaggins
(26,744 posts)Incorrect to call it "steam"... but that's another discussion.
What seems to be the case is that the blown up reactor's melted core is contacting water.
Ah... nope. It only means that water is contacting a warm surface. The core has been "contacting water" for years now (since they've been pouring water in there all along).
And the reason they do that is the core is still hot.
There's no evidence that it's "hot". The temperature has been measured and reported in there for years now... and hasn't been anywhere close to boiling in quite some time. But it certainly has been high enough to put off a visible "steam" at the right temperature and humidity. Note that these "steam" events have reportedly always followed rain.
That's your science lesson for the day, Baggins.
And here's yours - note that the surface doesn't need to be anywhere close to the boiling point of water (let alone the melting point of uranium)