Maddow: Here's what a 'nuclear meltdown' actually is

Rachel Maddow has a very nice segment explaining — technically for lay types — what's happening inside those Japanese reactors. That is, what happened to cause the first two reactor explosions (Saturday and Monday Japan-time), and what's happening with the most recent one (Reactor No. 2). Watch:



Note the description of "total fuel meltdown" as opposed to "partial fuel meltdown" (5:10 in the clip). Total meltdown of the fuel used to be called a "China Syndrome" event — fuel so hot and corrosive that it burns through the earth to China (from a U.S. perspective). This fuel is in Japan. Would that make it a "New York Syndrome" event?

Her description of the explosion at Reactor 2, and how it is different from the others, starts at 6:05. The interview with nuclear engineer David Lochbaum (at 7:35) is also instructive.

Yours in staying informed,

GP

[Update: The term "China Syndrome" was always a metaphor. Just so no one's confused. Of course the nuclear pile would stop at the earth's core, if not a whole lot sooner — like, say, four feet down or so.]