However the bulk of the course has remained a standard block of core material.

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Scientists speculate that the silicates stuck to the mantle might also be caught up in mantle convection and carried to the surface, accounting for reports of core material in lava erupting from hot, spot plumes, like those under Hawaii.

BBC: Earth's wobbles reveal deep secrets

Analysts said that Futong achieved a breakthrough in the manufacturing of optical fiber preform, the core raw material for optical fiber production, and is the first enterprise in China that can make this material with the latest all-synthesis technology.

FORBES: Technology Breakthrough Makes Chinese Fiber Optics Entrepreneur A New Billionaire

In addition to driving the turbines to create electricity, the steam generators are "one of the barriers between the radioactive material in the reactor core and ultimately the external environment, " Jaczko noted.

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On top of that, the Chernobyl core, unlike Western designs, was built from combustible material and had no containment.

FORBES: Post Fukushima-- burn more coal and oil, and hire more engineers not regulators

He pled guilty to one count of "material support, " a charge reserved for facilitators rather than hard-core terrorists.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Center For Security Policy