For people both new to learning about Chernobyl, and those familiar with the subject, it is a well-established fact that the Elephant’s Foot is the most radioactive single object in the entire Sarcophagus. But, as it seems to be with everything to do with Chernobyl, this is incorrect. The Elephant’s Foot is only in third place.
The title of second most radioactive object instead goes to part of the vertical corium flow that entered the upper floors of the Bubbler Pools. It and the corium flow that continued beneath, both called The Heap, rival the Elephant’s Foot for title of most radioactive corium mass, but both are dwarfed by the monster corium mass that spawned the Heap and this video will seek to demonstrate how dangerous it and the Heap are, but also allow you to follow the journey I had writing this script where I learned a lot about the corium masses and how easily deceived we all are by the stories both online and in documentaries.
Sources
https://sredmash.wixsite.com/obektukritie
The work of Aleksandr Kupnyi.
https://www.youtube.com/@chernobyl86
The Chornobyl Accident Revisited
BBC Horizons
Sergei Koshelev
NIKIET - Carrying Out Research Work at the SHELTER Facility
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:07 What Counts as a corium mass?
03:41 The Elephant's Foot
07:22 The Heap(s)
10:05 The Most Radioactive Object in the Chernobyl Sarcophagus