Word: reactors
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...FILM'S TITLE, incidentally, comes from nuclear engineers' jargon for the worst of all possible accidents at a nuclear power plant. If the level of the water circulating around the hot reactor core drops far enough that the core is uncovered, the heat of the reaction melts the steel containment vessel. Then the reactor itself sinks through the plant's floor, into the ground and, in theory, "all the way to China." In reality, it hits ground water first, and sends clouds of radioactive steam shooting into the atmosphere, killing or contaminating everything for miles around. Not a pleasant thought...
...film's title comes from jargon that nuclear power engineers use to describe the worst possible kind of nuclear power accident. It would happen if the core of the reactor, in which the chain reactions are taking place, were accidentally uncovered, instead of being surrounded by water within its pressure vessel. When the core is uncovered, its heat would melt through the vessel, and the concrete and steel building that surrounds it, right into the ground--and in the terms of the jargon, "right through to China." That wouldn't happen, of course. The reactor core would soon hit ground...
Lemmon acknowledged the film may have a serious impact. Nobody has used a nuclear reactor as background before. And it is, far more than we ever realized, a hot issue. And hot is a mild word. Everybody jumps at that. And it takes a little while to get beyond that to understand why the real crux of the film...is the power behind the power--whether it's nuclear or anti-nuclear. It's the suppression of the story getting out. Was the public interest ever really at heart? Or was it just a corporate decision where money became more...
...Carter administration of the TVA has been more disturbing than encouraging. As part of the Carter administration energy program, the Department of Energy has encouraged expanded development of both coal and nuclear power facilities. TVA has responded thus far by operating one nuclear plant, the Browns Ferry Reactor. The safety record so far is not good. In 1975, the Browns Ferry Reactor was the site of a major fire, causing $10 million worth of damage. In March 1978, the plant's emergency cooling system failed to pass safety tests. With the encouragement of Carter's energy department. TVA now plans...
...plants. There are six currently under construction, but Dawn Ford, chief of the citizen's action office, noted yesterday that they were all begun before either of the Carter appointments were made. There are no additional plants planned. David Freeman, who has labeled the plan for a nuclear breeder reactor a "turkey," has also called for a reassessment of TVA's reliance on nuclear power...