| Revision as of 03:50, 7 February 2003 editMbessey (talk | contribs)132 edits started a partial list of meltdown accidents← Previous edit | Revision as of 19:32, 9 March 2003 edit undoMkweise (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users4,391 edits (mistaken) idea -> humerous notion ... popularized by the 1979 film, ''The China Syndrome''Next edit → | ||
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| Fast breeder reactors are more susceptible to meltdown than other reactor types, due to the larger quantity of fissile material and the higher neutron flux inside the reactor core, which makes it relatively more difficult to control the reaction. | Fast breeder reactors are more susceptible to meltdown than other reactor types, due to the larger quantity of fissile material and the higher neutron flux inside the reactor core, which makes it relatively more difficult to control the reaction. | ||
| A nuclear meltdown is also colloquially known as the '''China syndrome''' |
A nuclear meltdown is also colloquially known as the '''China syndrome''', from the humerous notion that the molten reactor material would melt through the center of the earth all the way to China popularized by the ] film, '']''. | ||
| The only known large scale nuclear meltdown at a civilian nuclear power plant was at ], ], in ], although there have been several partial core meltdowns, including accidents at: | The only known large scale nuclear meltdown at a civilian nuclear power plant was at ], ], in ], although there have been several partial core meltdowns, including accidents at: | ||
Revision as of 19:32, 9 March 2003
A nuclear meltdown occurs when the core of a nuclear reactor melts. In pressurized water reactors, boiling water reactors, and breeder reactors, this can occur after a loss of coolant accident in which emergency cooling systems fail.
Although the emergency systems are designed to reinsert the control rods and stop the fission reaction in the event of an emergency, radioactive decay from the reaction products will continue to generate heat in the absence of coolant and fission reactions. This heat will cause the reactor core to melt within an hour after coolant is stopped.
What happens at this point is the subject of conjecture and, perhaps fortunately, little actual experience. The worst case scenario would be if the molten reactor core penetrates the containment vessel and hits ground water. The combination of molten radioactive material and water may cause a chemical explosion which would spread radioactive material over a large area. The best case scenario would be if the containment vessels held the molten material.
Although pressurized water reactors are susceptible to nuclear meltdown in the absence of active safety measures, this is not a universal feature of civilian nuclear reactors, and much of the research in civilian nuclear reactors are for "passive safety" designs that would be much less susceptible to meltdown even if all emergency systems failed.
Fast breeder reactors are more susceptible to meltdown than other reactor types, due to the larger quantity of fissile material and the higher neutron flux inside the reactor core, which makes it relatively more difficult to control the reaction.
A nuclear meltdown is also colloquially known as the China syndrome, from the humerous notion that the molten reactor material would melt through the center of the earth all the way to China popularized by the 1979 film, The China Syndrome.
The only known large scale nuclear meltdown at a civilian nuclear power plant was at Chernobyl, Ukraine, in 1986, although there have been several partial core meltdowns, including accidents at:
- NRX, Ontario, Canada, in 1952
- EBR-1, Idaho, in 1955
- Fermi Nuclear Power Plant, Michigan, in 1966.
- Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania in 1979.