China syndrome

English China Syndrome<dab!> Alternative forms en China Syndrome Etymology From en China syndrome. Popularized via the 1979 disaster thriller film The China Syndrome. Pronunciation en en-au-China syndrome.ogg AU en Chi na syn drome Noun ~ en 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. en Ralph Lapp Ralph E. Lapp Thoughts on Nuclear Plumbing. The New York Times 1971-12-12 https://www.nytimes.com/1971/12/12/archives/thoughts-on-nuclear-plumbing.html 0362-4331 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. In dry sand a hot sphere of about 100 feet in diameter might form and persist for a decade. This behavior projection is known as the China syndrome. https://web.archive.org/web/20250926014416/https://www.nytimes.com/1971/12/12/archives/thoughts-on-nuclear-plumbing.html 26 September 2025 en 1979 w:The China Syndrome w:Mike Gray; w:T. S. Cook; w:James Bridges 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. en Douglas M. Chapin; Karl P. Cohen; W. Kenneth Davis; Edwin E. Kintner; Leonard J. Koch Nuclear Power Plants and Their Fuel as Terrorist Targets Science 1997–1999 2002-09-20 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1077855 297 5589 0036-8075 10.1126/science.1077855 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. en idiomatic nuclear physics countable A specific instance of this type of failure. en 1983 Dorothy S. Zinberg Uncertain Power: The Struggle for a National Energy Policy i 43 9780080293882 http://books.google.ca/books?id=H1W0AAAAIAAJ&q=%22na+syndromes%22&dq=%22china+syndromes%22&lr=&pgis=1 The report judged the risks of catastrophic nuclear power plant accidents (known as core meltdowns or China syndromes) to be socially acceptable. en w:Tom Clancy The Thirteenth Day: Wednesday, 15 December w:The Hunt for Red October Annapolis, Maryland United States Naval Institute#Naval Institute Press Naval Institute Press 1984 303–304 0-425-13351-6 Ames maneuvered the Avalon around the Alfas 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." en Stan Sesser Now It's Time to Figure Out Who Caused All the Y2K Fuss Wall Street Journal 2000-01-11 https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB94752875229053698 0099-9660 Contrary to accounts in the media, he states, "bugs of this nature don't cause China Syndromes or missile launches, at least not generally." en 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. en 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. en 2006 w:Pan American Health Organization Poliomyelitis Eradication: Field Guide i 49 9789275116074 http://books.google.ca/books?id=FyMvjtU6OH8C&pg=PA49&dq=%22na+syndrome%22++polio&lr=&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES Unlike poliomyelitis, paralysis in China syndrome is symmetrical. In addition, cases are seasonal. Hypernyms en nuclear catastrophe meltdown Translations meltdown of a nuclear reactor Chinese: Mandarin: cmn 中國綜合症 Zhōngguó zònghézhèng Finnish: fi Kiina-ilmiö French: fr syndrome chinois m German: de China-Syndrom n Italian: it sindrome cinese f Japanese: ja チャイナ・シンドローム China shindorōmu Polish: pl chiński syndrom m-in Portuguese: pt síndrome da China f Russian: ru кита́йский синдро́м m Further reading en Nuclear_meltdown#China_syndrome nuclear meltdown § China syndrome en terms derived from toponyms