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Evaluation of the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima Nuclear Facility. The document paints a grim picture of evolving threats to the afflicted facility.
• mounting stresses placed on the containment structures as they fill with radioactive cooling water, making them more vulnerable to rupture in one of the aftershocks rattling the site
• the possibility of explosions inside the containment structures due to the release of hydrogen and oxygen from seawater pumped into the reactors
• semimolten fuel rods and salt buildup impeding the flow of fresh water meant to cool the nuclear cores
• new questions about whether pouring water on nuclear fuel in the absence of functioning cooling systems can be sustained indefinitely
In a related development,
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