I wrote:
> That's a different isotope. That's U-235. There are not a million pounds > of U-235 in basement of the plant, and what there is mixed in with U-238. > U-235 is 4% of the fuel in a reactor. It is 0.7 of natural uranium. > Again, you can't take the Pu because it is mixed in with U-235 . . . > I meant it is mixed in with U isotopes and other radioactive glop. > melting its way down relentlessly . . . >> > > It is NOT melting down anywhere. The temperature stabilized soon after the > accident. > You can be sure of that. There would be vast clouds of steam emerging from the plant if it were still that hot. I think the remains of the reactor core are mostly under liquid water and mud. Which is a problem, because the water is flowing through. There are hundreds of tanks of contaminated water, and a gigantic machine filtering and cleaning up the water, concentrating the radioactive glop, and releasing the water. As of last July TEPCO admitted the ice wall was not working well. I find it too depressing to read about. It is on Japanese TV news often, which I watch. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/07/20/national/first-tepco-admits-ice-wall-cant-stop-fukushima-no-1-groundwater/#.WKjvtlUrLs0 During the accident the material was hot enough melt through the containment vessel and to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen, which built up in the domes and exploded. - Jed
