The China Syndrome is a hypothesis, or rather a metaphor, of a possible 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 concept that molten material from an American reactor would melt through the crust of the Earth and reach China.[1] 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).
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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.[2]
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.[3] The dangers of such a hypothetical accident were publicized 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.[4] 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.
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.[5] The china syndrome is based on this catastrophic meltdown.
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). Most obviously it is impossible because the Earth's gravity would only pull it towards the core of the planet and no further. Additionally 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'.[5][6] This manner of spreading heat convectively through the ground will be used in General Atomics' Gas Turbine Modular Helium Reactor for regular operation and passive safety, which will make meltdowns altogether physically impossible.[7]
| China Syndrome | |
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| Developer(s) | Spectravision |
| Publisher(s) | Spectravision |
| Release date | Atari 2600: 1983 (NA) |
| Genre | Flight Simulator |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| Age rating(s) | N/A Atari 2600 |
| Platform(s) | Atari 2600 |
| Input | Atari 2600 Joystick |
| Credits | Soundtrack | Codes | Walkthrough | |
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