China syndrome

• China Syndrome

Popularized via the 1979 disaster thriller film The China Syndrome.

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• Hyphenation: Chi‧na‧syn‧drome

China syndrome (countable and uncountable, plural China syndromes)

1. (idiomatic, nuclear physics, uncountable) A hypothetical kind of catastrophic failure in which a nuclear reactor melts through the floor of its containment system and (if on land) penetrates the Earth's surface, continuing downward as if (from a Western Hemispheric point of view) traveling through the planet toward China.
   • 1971 December 12, Ralph E. Lapp, “Thoughts on Nuclear Plumbing.”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN, page E11:

     The Ergen report contains an analysis showing that the high-temperature mass would sink into the earth and grow in size for about two years. […] This behavior projection is known as the China syndrome.

   • 1979, Mike Gray, T. S. Cook, James Bridges, The China Syndrome:

     Dr. Lowell: If that's true, we came very close to the China Syndrome.
     Kimberly Wells: The what?
     Dr. Lowell: If the core is exposed for whatever reason, the fuel heats beyond core heat tolerance in a matter of minutes. Nothing can stop it. And it melts down right through the bottom of the plant, theoretically to China. But of course, as soon as it hits ground water, it blasts into the atmosphere and sends out clouds of radioactivity.

   • 2002 September 20, Douglas M. Chapin, Karl P. Cohen, W. Kenneth Davis, Edwin E. Kintner, Leonard J. Koch, “Nuclear Power Plants and Their Fuel as Terrorist Targets”, in Science‎, volume 297, number 5589, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 1997–1999:

     The molten mass did not even fully penetrate the 0.5-cm cladding, confirming tests in Karlsruhe, Germany, and in Idaho, that the "China syndrome" is not a credible possibility.

2. (idiomatic, nuclear physics, countable) A specific instance of this type of failure.
   • 1983, Dorothy S. Zinberg, chapter I, in Uncertain Power: The Struggle for a National Energy Policy‎, →ISBN, page 43:

     The report judged the risks of catastrophic nuclear power plant accidents (known as core meltdowns or China syndromes) to be socially acceptable.

   • 1984, Tom Clancy, “The Thirteenth Day: Wednesday, 15 December”, in The Hunt for Red October, Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, →ISBN, pages 303–304:

     Ames maneuvered the Avalon around the Alfa's bow, working the directional propeller carefully and adjusting trim to cruise down the other side, actually the top of the dead sub. "See any evidence of a hull fracture?"
     "No," the ensign answered, "just the two burn-throughs. I wonder what went wrong?"
     "A for-real China Syndrome. It finally happened to somebody." Ames shook his head. If there was anything the navy preached about reactors, it was safety. "Get the transducer against the hull. We'll see if anybody's alive in there."

   • 2000 January 11, Stan Sesser, “Now It's Time to Figure Out Who Caused All the Y2K Fuss”, in Wall Street Journal‎, →ISSN:

     Contrary to accounts in the media, he states, "bugs of this nature don't cause China Syndromes or missile launches, at least not generally."

3. (idiomatic, countable, sometimes fanciful) A behavior, policy, or situation characteristic of or involving China; an actual or potential catastrophe, especially one involving China.
   • 2005, Justin Lahart. "Ahead of the Tape," Wall Street Journal (Eastern ed.), 6 Oct., p. C1:

     And then there is the China syndrome. China now represents about 20% of Korea's total trade.

4. (medicine) A rare disease, first characterized in the early 1990s, which resembles polio but which has somewhat different characteristics and occurs in persons vaccinated for polio.
   • 2006, Pan American Health Organization, chapter I, in Poliomyelitis Eradication: Field Guide‎, →ISBN, page 49:

     Unlike poliomyelitis, paralysis in China syndrome is symmetrical. In addition, cases are seasonal.

• (nuclear catastrophe): meltdown

• nuclear meltdown § China syndrome on Wikipedia.Wikipedia