Eli5: What causes a nuclear core to go super critical?
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Every nuclear reactor is built differently but its basically like this.
There is a reaction going on that cannot easily be stopped. So, there is also some other medium that is made to absorb that heat or energy produced and the radiation and that medium (lets say water) is used to not only cool the reactor but used to keep the nuclear reaction running at a predictable level. Well, in the most basic example possible, if the water begins traveling too slow OR too fast it could change the rate of absorption and the nuclear reaction could speed up to levels where not even the water can contain it
[https://phys.org/news/2011-03-nuclear-meltdown-video.html](https://phys.org/news/2011-03-nuclear-meltdown-video.html)
Remember every reactor is built differently.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJfziSPWB7o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJfziSPWB7o)
Free classes from schools like MIT or Harvard will break down different power reactors and different elements they use and most of the time its human error that causes the meltdown but they will walk you through how every reactor in history has melted down specifically.
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