3 Answers

Russia and England have more experience with core meltdowns than the US. We have only had theoretical meltdown. When you consider a molten mass melting down you may like to produce a similar effect with other than nuclear materials for a prospective analysis on a small scale. Nuclear materials are quite heavy and as a molten mass would burn into the east perhaps but at what temperature? I’m pretty sure  the temperatures achieved in thermite reactions exceed nuclear reactions for energy production and possibly that of a core meltdown but not that of a nuclear bomb. The nature of heat is to distribute into the environment and spread out so the “China Syndrome” is more likely a fictional rumor than a fact. Science Fiction is great at producing plausible scenarios and occasionally is right-on,  not so in the case of the China Syndrome.      

Watch and read about the result of the Chernobil meltdown.

The real catastrophe is the overreaction and the unconditional organized opposition to nuclear energy that this accident caused.Please read and watch...

http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/science/Chernobyl--My-Primeval--Teeming--Irradiated-Eden.htmlhttp://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/tag/chernobyl/ - 50k -

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/tag/chernobyl/ - 50k – Choose “Full episode”