Corium (nuclear reactor) Corium (nuclear reactor) Corium (also called fuel containing material (FCM) or lava-like fuel containing material (LFCM)) is the lava-like mixture of fissile material created in a nuclear reactor's core during a nuclear meltdown. It consists of nuclear fuel, fission products, control rods, structural materials from the affected parts of the reactor, products of their chemical reaction with air, water and steam, and, in the event that the reactor vessel is breached, molten concrete from the floor of the reactor room. The heat causing the melting of a reactor may originate from the nuclear chain reaction, but more commonly decay heat
Nuclear reactor physics Any element that strongly absorbs neutrons is called a reactor poison, because it tends to shut down (poison) an ongoing fission chain reaction. Some reactor poisons are deliberately inserted into fission reactor cores to control the reaction; boron or cadmium control rods are the best example. Many reactor poisons are produced by the fission process itself, and buildup of neutron-absorbing fission products affects both the fuel economics and the controllability of nuclear reactors. In practice, buildup of reactor poisons in nuclear fuel is what determines the lifetime of nuclear fuel in a reactor: long before all possible fissions have taken