The China Syndrome is a 1979 American thriller film that tells the story of a reporter and her cameraman who discover safety coverups at a nuclear power plant. It stars Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, Michael Douglas, Scott Brady, James Hampton, Peter Donat, Richard Herd, and Wilford Brimley.
The film was directed by James Bridges and written by Bridges, Mike Gray, and T. S. Cook.
It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Jack Lemmon), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Jane Fonda), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (George Jenkins, Arthur Jeph Parker) and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. The film was also nominated for the Palme d'Or (Golden Palm) at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival, and Jack Lemmon won Best Actor for his performance. The film's script won the 1980 Writers Guild of America award.
"China Syndrome" is a fanciful term—not intended to be taken literally—that describes a fictional worst-case result of a nuclear meltdown, where reactor components melt through their containment structures and into the underlying earth, "all the way to China".
Famous quotes containing the word china:
“Consider the China pride and stagnant self-complacency of mankind. This generation inclines a little to congratulate itself on being the last of an illustrious line; and in Boston and London and Paris and Rome, thinking of its long descent, it speaks of its progress in art and science and literature with satisfaction.... It is the good Adam contemplating his own virtue.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)