system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Why does a reactor meltdown, such as with Chernobyl, create a much longer lasting exclusion zone than a nuclear warhead detonation site?
gpt
It fundamentally comes down to quantities.

A modern nuclear warhead may contain *at most* a few hundred kg of fissionable material, likely less. 

A typical reactor core contains **100 tonnes** (200000 kg) of enriched Uranium (and other radioactive species if the fuel assemblies have been in use for a while).

There's just vastly more radioactive potential present in the reactor core.