Lexic.us

Definition of Meltdown

1. Noun. Severe overheating of the core of a nuclear reactor resulting in the core melting and radiation escaping.

2. Noun. A disaster comparable to a nuclear meltdown. "There is little likelihood of a meltdown comparable to the American banking collapse in March 1933"

Definition of Meltdown

1. Noun. Severe overheating of the core of a nuclear reactor resulting in the core melting and radiation escaping. ¹

2. Noun. A situation being likened to a nuclear meltdown; a crisis. ¹

3. Noun. (figuratively) A tantrum. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Meltdown

1. the melting of the core of a nuclear reactor [n -S]

Medical Definition of Meltdown

1. In a fission reactor, if there is insufficient coolant or the fission chain reaction proceeds too rapidly, heat can build up in the reactor fuel, causing it to melt. In extreme cases the whole fission core can melt down to (or even through) the reactor floor. Fusion reactors are not vulnerable to this. (09 Oct 1997)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Meltdown

melpomene melpomenish mels melt melt away melt down melt into melt off melt sandwich meltabilities

meltability meltable meltage meltages meltaway meltdown (current term) meltdowns melted melter melters

meltest melteth meltier meltiest melting melting point melting points melting pot melting pots melting sign

Literary usage of Meltdown

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Creating the New World: Stories & Images from the Dawn of the Atomic Age by Theodore Rockwell (2003)
"The various blue-ribbon panel reports agreed that even if a complete meltdown had occurred, the amount of radioactivity released to the environment would ..."

2. Computer Science Research Activities in Asia: Software Technology and by David K. Kahaner (1994)
"For the US, the Asian meltdown is an "external shock" that will diminish economic ... Sectorally, consumers will benefit early from the Asian meltdown, ..."

3. Clausewitzian Friction & Future War by Barry D. Watts (1996)
"... relative based on subsidiary awareness of particulars as an example of such knowledge.23 A military example 21The meltdown of a nuclear reactor at Three ..."

4. Nuclear Waste Storage and Disposal Policy: Hearing Before the Committee on edited by Frank Murkowski (1999)
"Just 20 years ago, the nuclear power industry and its regulators, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, officially viewed a "Class 9" nuclear meltdown as ..."

5. Short History of Nuclear Regulation, 1946-1999 by J. Samuel Walker (2001)
"Other possible dangers of a core meltdown were that the molten fuel would breach containment by reacting with water to cause a steam explosion or by ..."

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