3. China Syndrome And The Nuclear Reaction
The term China Syndrome has nothing to do with China. Just thought I'd clear that up. It is a term used to describe a worst case scenario during a nuclear meltdown, say, if the reactor components somehow burned through the ground and into the earth, 'all the way to China,' as loosely predicted in the 1979 film of the same name. In China Syndrome, reporter Jane Fonda and her crew, including cameraman, Michael 'Yes, I managed to score with Catherine Zeta Jones' Douglas are filming in a Californian nuclear plant and witness a number of cover ups, putting the local population at risk. They soon discover that something is wrong and that the plant could go into meltdown at any moment, which it does, right as the film ends. China Syndrome isn't the first and won't be the last film centred around and even criticising nuclear power reactors, and incidents have also occurred by and after, such as the recent incident in Japan. But what makes the film interesting is the timing. Released in March of 1979, China Syndrome was initially met with backlash from nuclear power industry, appalled by the films' character assassination of the industry, even going as far as to call it "sheer fiction." Just 12 days after China Syndrome's release and nuclear egg was all over the industry's face when a plant in Pennsylvania suffered a meltdown. It was termed 'The Three Mile Island Incident' and became the worst accident in US commercial nuclear power plant history, forcing the nearby area to be evacuated. Thankfully, everything turned out alright in the end and there was no Toxic Avengers in sight. But the industry, obviously embarrassed, regretted their reaction to China Syndrome, probably wishing they'd waited a few weeks before reacting. At the very least they probably began to believe in karma. The US spent the rest of 1979 debating nuclear power and the Three Mile Island residents understandably lived in fear after that. The film was pulled from theatres for a while after the incident, to show that the studio wasn't trying to take advantage. Not quite the reaction they were looking for.