Nuclear and radiation accidents and incidents involving HEU or plutonium trafficking: A nuclear meltdown is a severe nuclear reactor accident that results in reactor core damage from overheating. It has been defined as the accidental melting of the core of a nuclear reactor, and refers to the core's either complete or partial collapse. A core melt accident occurs when the heat generated by a nuclear reactor exceeds the heat removed by the cooling systems to the point where at least one nuclear fuel element exceeds its melting point. This differs from a fuel element failure, which is not caused by high temperatures. A meltdown may be
Cooling pond of up to 50 years in the area. The Columbia station in Pardeeville, Wisconsin is a coal fired power plant with a capacity of 1000 MW. A duel cooling system is used for heat rejection that consists of a cooling pond and two cooling towers. The pond and towers are connected in a parallel arrangement to help dissipate thermal energy at expedited rates. In 1994 North Korea's Yongbyon reactor was under U.S scrutiny and thus its nuclear fuel rods were taken out of the reactor and placed in the Yongbyon's cooling pond. They have since been removed. Cooling pond A