When the sodium potassium alloy is used as a coolant in nuclear reactors, is created which makes the coolant radioactive.

When the decays, it causes a buildup of magnesium in the coolant.

The mean temperature of the hot coolant leaving the reactor core was designed to be 648 C.

Light water reactors (LWRs) like those at Fukushima, which use water as a primary coolant, produce most of the world s nuclear power.

For the Fukushima nuclear power plant, a 1,000 year flood and ordinarily innocuous design defects combined to deprive the reactors of circulating water coolant and cause serious radiation leaks.