From: utzoo!decvax!harpo!npoiv!eisx!pd
Newsgroups: net.movies,net.physics
Title: Nuclear Reactors inthe movies
Article-I.D.: eisx.514
Posted: Mon Mar 14 11:51:51 1983
Received: Thu Mar 17 19:56:57 1983

I saw the movie "China Syndrome" with Jane Fonda and Jack Lemmon
(for the first time) on TV last night. The movie portrays a plausible 
nightmarish scenario of grevious nuclear plant accidents resulting from  a
combination of greed, powerlust, and plain simple human error. The
real bad guys in the movie were big business and the Corporate power
utility interests. I have some questions about this movie:

1) Was the depiction of the Nuclear Reactor, the Control room, the
operating procedures, the attitudes of the personnel etc realistic ?
Or did the movie industry do the same thing with Nuclear power plant
that it does with the computer centers ?

2) Were the events that unfolded in the movie Technically feasible ?
   How probable is it that something like this happens ? From the
   point of view of QC procedures, MTBF, fail-safe mechanisms, etc.

3) The Karen Silkwood-ish incident with the man carrying the telltale
   X-rays of the Faulty pipes.... Do utility companys and their contractors
   go around doing criminal acts like that in full knowledge of their
   executive officers ??

4) Does any one have any historical information on how 

	a) The Power Utility  Companies.
	b) The public 
	c) The Nuclear  Industry
	d) The NRC
	
   reacted to this Movie ??


I suggest (in the interests of conserving CPU and Communication facilities,
Mail responses to me. May be there is enough interest to warrant a net-wide
discussion !


Prem Devanbu