News Chemistry

Radioactive fuel turns to goo during nuclear meltdown

Experiments reveal atomic rearrangements when uranium dioxide melts

nuclear reactor in the Czech Republic

CATASTROPHIC CLOSE-UP The structure of uranium dioxide, the most common fuel in nuclear reactors (such as this one in the Czech Republic), folds and collapses during a nuclear meltdown, a new study finds. 

Janos Korom Dr./Wikimedia Commons  (CC BY-SA 2.0)

By Beth Mole

- More than 2 years ago

Researchers have gotten the first atomic-level glimpse of what happens to radioactive fuel during a nuclear meltdown — inside the hot mess of uranium dioxide goo.