Tobias Weissenborn

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Chernobyl fuel particles remain stable 40 years after disaster

As of October 2026: Lead author of the hot particle study

Four decades after Chernobyl's reactor exploded, some radioactive fuel fragments it scattered still hold their original crystal structure. Researchers at Leibniz University Hannover and the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) found the particles are chemically more stable than expected, trapping fission products instead of leaking them into soil and water.

Updated Oct 10

Notable Quotes

"However, every single particle has a different structure... our experiment only studied six such particles from two different locations."

from Chernobyl fuel particles remain stable 40 years after disaster · Updated Oct 10

"Even if the particles decay in a largely uniform pattern, there will always be outliers, more persistent particles, that will release radionuclides at a later point in time."

from Chernobyl fuel particles remain stable 40 years after disaster · Updated Oct 10