Elephant's Foot (Chernobyl) instance of solid object
The Elephant's Foot is the nickname given to a large mass of corium and other materials formed underneath the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near Pripyat, Ukraine, during the Chernobyl disaster of April 1986, notable for its extreme radioactivity. Discovered in December of that year, it is located in a maintenance corridor near the remains of Reactor No. 4. It is still an extremely radioactive object, though the danger has decreased over time due to the decay of its radioactive components.Composition
The Elephant's Foot is composed primarily of silicon dioxide, with traces of uranium, titanium, zirconium, magnesium and graphite. The mass is largely homogeneous, though the depolymerized silicate glass contains occasional crystalline grains of zircon. These grains of zircon are not elongated, suggesting a moderate crystallization rate. While uranium dioxide dendrites grew quickly at high temperatures within the lava, the zircon began crystallization during slow cooling of the lava. Despite the distribution of uranium-bearing particles not being uniform, the radioactivity of the mass is evenly distributed. The mass was quite dense and unyielding to a drill mounted on a remote-controlled trolley, but able to be damaged by armor-piercing rounds fired from an AK-47 assault rifle. By June 1998, the outer layers had started turning to dust and the mass had started to crack. In 2021, the mass was described as having a consistency similar to sand.
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