China syndrome

Meanings

1. A hypothetical kind of catastrophic failure in which a nuclear reactor melts through the floor of its containment system and (if on land) penetrates the Earth's surface, continuing downward as if (from a Western Hemispheric point of view) traveling through the planet toward China.
2. A specific instance of this type of failure.
3. A behavior, policy, or situation characteristic of or involving China; an actual or potential catastrophe, especially one involving China.
4. A rare disease, first characterized in the early 1990s, which resembles polio but which has somewhat different characteristics and occurs in persons vaccinated for polio.

1. Alternative form of China syndrome.

Etymology

From China + syndrome. Popularized via the 1979 disaster thriller film The China Syndrome.