close up nuclear reactor meltdown footage

By June 1998, the outer layers had started turning to dust and the mass had started to crack. The mass was quite dense and unyielding to a drill mounted on a remote-controlled trolley, but able to be damaged by armor-piercing rounds fired from an AK-47 assault rifle. Despite the distribution of uranium-bearing particles not being uniform, the radioactivity of the mass is evenly distributed. While uranium dioxide dendrites grew quickly at high temperatures within the lava, the zircon began crystallization during slow cooling of the lava. These grains of zircon are not elongated, suggesting a moderate crystallization rate. The mass is largely homogeneous, though the depolymerized silicate glass contains occasional crystalline grains of zircon. The Elephant's Foot is composed primarily of silicon dioxide, with traces of uranium, titanium, zirconium, magnesium and graphite. The material making up the Elephant's Foot had burnt through at least 2 metres (6.6 ft) of reinforced concrete, then flowed through pipes and fissures and down a hallway to reach its current location. The Elephant's Foot is located in Room 217/2, 15 metres (49 ft) to the southeast of the ruined reactor and 6 metres (20 ft) above ground level. It is one small part of a much larger mass that lies beneath Reactor No. It is named for its wrinkly appearance, suggestive of the foot of an elephant. It was formed during the Chernobyl disaster in April 1986 and discovered in December 1986. The Elephant's Foot is a mass of black corium with many layers, externally resembling tree bark and glass.

Close up nuclear reactor meltdown footage