China syndrome (nuclear meltdown)

For the 1979 film, see The China Syndrome. For the The King of Queens episode, see China Syndrome (The King of Queens).

The China Syndrome is an incorrect hypothesis of an extreme result of a nuclear meltdown in which molten reactor core products breach the barriers below them and flow downwards through the floor of the containment building. The origin of the phrase is the fictional concept that molten material from an American reactor would melt through the crust of the Earth and reach China. Although the phrase has been commonly used in popular discussion of nuclear power, the possibility of such an event taking place is physically impossible for a number of reasons (listed below).

History and usage

The large size of nuclear power plants ordered during the late 1960s raised new safety questions and created fears of a severe reactor accident that would send large quantities of radiation into the environment. In the early 1970s a contentious controversy over the performance of emergency core cooling systems in nuclear power plants, designed to prevent a core meltdown that could lead to the China Syndrome, was discussed in the popular media and in technical journals.

In 1971, nuclear physicist Ralph Lapp used the term "China syndrome" to describe the burn-through of the reactor vessel, the penetration of the concrete below it, and the emergence of a mass of hot fuel into the soil below the reactor. He based his statements on the report of a task force of nuclear physicists headed by Dr. W.K. Ergen, published in 1967. The dangers of such a hypothetical accident were popularized by the 1979 film, The China Syndrome.

The name refers to the idea of the nuclear material burning a hole from the United States to 'the other side of the world', i.e., China. Despite several meltdowns in both civilian and military reactors, such an extreme meltdown has never taken place. China is a metaphor, as the opposite side of the globe from the USA is actually the Indian Ocean.

Scientific explanation

The "China Syndrome" refers to the most drastically severe meltdown a nuclear reactor could possibly achieve. In this case, the reactor would reach the highest level of supercriticality for a sustained period of time, resulting in the melting of its support infrastructure (meltdown). The uranium in the core would behave in a similar manner to a delta-class fire, self-sustaining temperatures in excess of 2000°C. Since these temperatures would melt all materials around it, the reactor would sink due to gravity, effectively boring a hole through the reactor compartment's floor.

The China syndrome becomes fictional in the hypothesis of it boring a hole from the United States to China, or any other part of the world (the opposite side of the earth from the USA is not China, but the Indian Ocean). The uranium core would not exceed more than 10 meters of 'boring' due to natural passive safety; the surrounding ground beneath the reactor would absorb the heat and transfer it conductively to the surrounding area, thus preventing the ground directly beneath the core from 'melting'.

In popular fiction

• In an episode of The Simpsons titled "The Trouble with Trillions", Homer claims that he was responsible for "three meltdowns and one China Syndrome".
• In an episode of The Simpsons titled "The Wettest Stories Ever Told", Mr. Burns expresses his love for the sea by noting that there are no China Syndromes (referring to the movie).
• In an episode of The Simpsons titled "Marge's Son Poisoning", a porcelain shop called "The China Syndrome" can be seen.
• The last episode of The King of Queens, aired in 2007 and titled "China Syndrome," involved Doug and Carrie Heffernan going to China to adopt a baby.
• In Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, Godzilla’s nuclear reactor (his heart) is predicted to go through an immense version of China Syndrome that will result in the Earth’s destruction after reaching a temperature of 1,200 °C, but this is prevented.
• The professional wrestler Chyna had merchandise that said "Chyna Syndrome".
• In The Hunt for Red October based on the book of the same name the Soviet submarine Politovskiy is sunk by an occurrence of the China Syndrome, as later noted by Lieutenant Ames.
• The 1979 movie, The China Syndrome was based around this theory.
• A similar effect is predicted in Frank Herbert's 1969 novel Dune Messiah, in which a "stone burner" uses nuclear fuel to blind victims and can burrow into the crust of a planet, potentially destroying it.
• A passing reference is made to China Syndrome by Pam Beesly in the editor's cut of the "Frame Toby" episode of The Office (US) on NBC.
• In Stephen King's novel The Tommyknockers, James Gardener says about the technician fiddling with the controls of the nuclear reactor in his heart (metaphor) that "That guy wouldn't be really happy until Jim Gardener went China Syndrome"
• In Superman: The Animated Series episode "Apokolips...Now!", Darkseid plans to use that mechanism in order to make Earth similar to Apokolips.

See also

• List of civilian nuclear accidents
• List of military nuclear accidents
• Nuclear and radiation accidents
• Nuclear safety
• Radioactive contamination
• Radioactive waste
• Travel to the Earth's center
• We Almost Lost Detroit