The Japanese Nuclear Plant #4 meltdown explained

[Paul F.]

I suspect what Lux is saying is that without being actively "fissioning", which they can NOT be all by themselves, the fuel rods in the pool, even dry, cannot "melt down". They can generate decay heat, and heat up and split and crumble, but they can't melt. They can't generate the 5000°F necessary to melt.

Oh, and last I read, it was oil from a lube pump that caught fire... not the spent fuel pool.