The distribution of total cooling rate in the lower atmosphere is mainly determined the distribution of water vapor cooling rate.

Radiation Levels Outside the Plant: Twice the Legal Limit As part of the cooling efforts, "plant operators had to release radioactive vapor into the atmosphere," The New York Times reports.

Thermal distillation involves heat: Boiling water turns it into vapor-leaving the salt behind-that is collected and condensed back into water by cooling it down.