Subsequent failures can permit these radioisotopes to breach further layers of containment. Once the fuel elements of a reactor begin to melt, the fuel cladding has been breached, and the nuclear fuel and fission products within the fuel elements can leach out into the coolant. Alternately, in a reactor plant such as the RBMK-1000, an external fire may endanger the core, leading to a meltdown. A meltdown may be caused by a loss of coolant, loss of coolant pressure, or low coolant flow rate or be the result of a criticality excursion in which the reactor is operated at a power level that exceeds its design limits. This differs from a fuel element failure, which is not caused by high temperatures. "Core melt accident" and "partial core melt" are the analogous technical terms for a meltdown.Ī core melt accident occurs when the heat generated by a nuclear reactor exceeds the heat removed by the cooling systems to the point where at least one nuclear fuel element exceeds its melting point. However, it has been defined to mean the accidental melting of the core of a nuclear reactor, and is in common usage a reference to the core's either complete or partial collapse. The term is not officially defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency or by the U.S. Nuclear meltdown is an informal term for a severe nuclear reactor accident that results in core damage from overheating. Freebase (0.00 / 0 votes) Rate this definition:
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