Part 3/9:
The potential for catastrophe loomed large. Had the second reactor caught fire, a core meltdown could have resulted, compromising not only the British Isles but also mainland Europe. Catastrophe was avoided, mostly through a haphazard method of flooding the reactor with water, but the damage was done. The reactor was quickly sealed, entombed in concrete, with its hazardous contents expected to remain dangerous for the next thirty thousand years.