The China Syndrome

When Jack sets down his coffee cup, just after the earthquake, the handle points towards the edge of the counter.

In the close up the handle points to the corner.

When meeting about what to do with the film the next day, a paper leans against Rich's coffee cup, but is gone a moment later.

During the opening credits sequence, the helicopter carrying the camera is reflected in the rear window of the Bronco.

In the scene where Hector's car is forced over the cliff you can see that the gas tank has been removed when his car stops tumbling.

When a reactor is "SCRAM"ed it does not initiate the use of massive cooling systems.

The SCRAM process is the rapid (4 second or less) insertion of the control rods into the core which shuts the reactor down by absorbing the neutrons.

If the control rod SCRAM fails, then the reactor can be SCRAMed by using a neutron absorbing liquid injected into the core from pressurized tanks (no pumps.

) Also, in addition to the cooling pumps, there is an Emergency Core Cooling System which injects a large amount of cooling water into the core if the primary colling system fails.

In the United States, there are two main types of commercial power reactorsPWR (Pressurized Water Reactor) and BWR (Boiling Water Reactor).

In the scene where Gibson is explaining the basic workings of the plant to Kimberly Wells, the diagram on the board shows the former type, PWR.

This is shown by the two loop system in which the water is pumped through the reactor under high pressure to prevent boiling, and then through a steam generator, or boiler, to create steam for the turbine using clean secondary water.

In subsequent scenes, the dialog of the characters in the control room seems to suggest that they are dealing with a BWR system, where water is allowed to boil in the reactor vessel and steam is directly piped to the turbine, with no steam generator.

Godell is concerned by the high water level in the reactor reaching the steam lines, of which there are none on a PWR reactor vessel.

As well, in the action hearing later, the investigator talks about how the operators began cutting off feedwater and releasing steam in order to lower the reactor water level, which would only happen on a BWR.

Jack immediately cocks the pistol when he takes it away from the security guard.

Moments later, to emphasize his command to Ted, he cocks it again in closeup.

The emergency lights in the control room did not go on when the second plant accident occurred just after the SWAT team broke in.

This was clearly for dramatic effect; in reality they would be on a backup power source just as the plant controls were.

Throughout the film, Michael Douglas makes the mistake of pronouncing the word "nuclear" as the incorrect "noo-kyoo-ler".

(A mistake he also makes in _The Game (1997)_ (qv)).

Michael Douglas' character says the film of the accident is 230 feet.

Yet when he is running the film through the moviola at the station there can't be more than 40-50 feet on the takeup reel at the end of the footage.

In the introduction to the news, the announcer names Kimberly Wells' segment "California Close-Up" but the anchorman calls it "California Now.

" Michael Douglas's cameraman more than once supposedly films something - including the footage of the reactor control room - without having a battery pack connected to the camera.

The camera simply wouldn't work without it.

He also frequently uses the light meter incorrectly - the white dome has to be pointed towards the light source you are measuring.

Jack's shirt displays a bullet hole a beat or two before you actually hear a gunshot at the very end.

This movie has a lot of things going for it! I would have given it a much higher rating if the female lead had been almost anyone other than Fonda!!

Wow. Not sure why this thriller has so few rating in IMDb.

Incredibly timely, having been released 12 days before the accident at Three Mile Island, this film certainly speaks to the fear that regardless of safeguards, nuclear power plants could unleash a toxic nightmare. There is a lot to like here.

I saw "The China Syndrome" in the theater (Bellerose, NY) when I was 15 years old. I don't remember how I felt about it.

I revisited this movie after many years, having seen it as a kid and not fully understanding the mentality of a certain political party.This was a very well done film, and didn't need special effects to keep you locked on the screen.

James Bridges directed this nuclear-age thriller that stars Jane Fonda as TV newswoman Kimberly Wells, who, along with her cameraman Richard Adams(played by Michael Douglas) do an investigative report on a nearby nuclear power plant when a near-meltdown occurs, though plant management deny it as such, Kimberly isn't convinced, and manages to persuade nervous technician Jack Godell(played by Jack Lemmon) to go on air to tell what he knows this leads to a hostage situation with potentially disastrous consequences... Good direction and thoughtful(if one-sided script) with Jack Lemmon outshining the two leads with a fantastic supporting performance as a man who does the right thing, even though it means his personal & professional ruin.

No need to recap the plot, nor echo consensus points on the excellence of the production. Instead, I want to single out three topical threads that drive much of the drama and remain relevant in our own day.

First of all, this film is irrelevant to China, THE CHINA SYNDROME is a technical term of a fictional nuclear reactor operations accident, its definition is here. Gathering Lemmon, Fonda and Douglas (as the producer took on the role when Richard Dreyfuss dropped out at the last minute), three big names carry on this nuke crisis thriller, which graphically covers a nuclear accident from both the news media (Fonda, an ambitious anchorwoman and her hothead cameraman Douglas) and a conscientious insider of the plant, Lemmon the shift supervisor.

"The China Syndrome" truly is a landmark film. What helps the most in making it so successful is its "docu-drama" approach, giving it a sense of immediacy that you might not ordinarily get in a Hollywood production.