I’ve always been really fascinated with that lava-like mass in the basement of Chernobyl, but it seems like the most recent info we have on it is over 20 years old. It’s supposedly still mega dangerous even after all this time yet they’re starting to give tours now at Chernobyl. The information I can find is very vague, just “it’s weaker now but still deadly.” Is the basement sealed off or something? Has anyone actually visited this thing? Have there been attempts to move/study it? It’s apparently hundreds of tons, but none of the sources I could locate were credible. Any more recent info would be super helpful, thanks!
The 'Elephant's Foot' is now sealed off under the Chernobyl New Safe Containment unit which has recently been erected, with the aim of disassembling and eventually removing it using a series of robot arms inside the NSC.
You can watch a fairly interesting BBC documentary about the construction of the NSC here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08650s6