[grey_whiskers]

I understand that there are multiple levels of complexity, but it just seems so ironic that you have nuclear plants next to the sea, in an area that was just overrun by a Tsunami, but there isn't enough water to prevent the spent fuel from combusting.

There is enough water, it's just that the stuff which needs the water is so radioactive nobody can stay long enough to pour much water *on* it.

And the less water, the hotter (temp-wise) it gets; and if it gets hot enough, it will (presumably) catch fire (dispersion), or melt through its holder and through the floor, until it hits groundwater (massive steam explosion and dispersion).

Full Disclosure: The last sentence is my educated layman's guesstimate of the possible bad next step...

Cheers!

[silentknight]

I would imagine we will wake up to work of a 7+ quake