A melted amalgam of nuclear fuel at Chernobyl is beginning to react.
The issue is rainwater, which has activated materials buried deep within the closed plant.
The reaction could burn out naturally, but it could also require human intervention.
But water from before has still leached into the farthest reaches, where water helps to slow the neutrons and make them more likely to interact with the remaining nuclear fuel.
Scientists figured the threat would decrease as the amount of water dried and receded, but somehow, the opposite has happened.
The issue is rainwater, which has activated materials buried deep within the closed plant.
The reaction could burn out naturally, but it could also require human intervention.
But water from before has still leached into the farthest reaches, where water helps to slow the neutrons and make them more likely to interact with the remaining nuclear fuel.
Scientists figured the threat would decrease as the amount of water dried and receded, but somehow, the opposite has happened.