“Core-on-the-Floor” Pacific Military Commands Prepare for Worst Case Scenario

from Stars and Stripes:

Nuclear scientists use the term “core-on-the-floor” to describe radioactive fuel burning through protective containment layers, hitting water and bursting into the atmosphere in a huge steam explosion, spreading clouds of radioactive gas and dust.

It’s never happened before, but experts fear it may soon become reality in one or more reactors at the Fukushima nuclear complex, which was gravely damaged in last Friday’s 9.0-magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami.

“We are right now closer to core-on-the-floor than at any time in the history of nuclear reactors,” said Kenneth Bergeron, a former Sandia National Laboratory researcher who spent his career simulating such meltdowns, including in reactors of the type at the Fukushima plant.

http://urlet.com/heads.september or:

http://www.stripes.com/news/http-www-stripes-com-news-pentagon-preparing-for-a-nuclear-worst-case-scenario-at-fukushima-1-1379-1.137969

see also:  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=134600420