The China Syndrome (1979)
Director:
James Bridges
Tagline:
« [From an early TV trailer for the film] The China Syndrome. It’s not about China. It’s about choices. Between honesty and ambition. Career and conscience. Responsibility and profit. The China Syndrome. Today, only a handful of people know what it means. On March 16, so will you. »
Actors:
Kimberly Wells
Jack Godell
Richard Adams
Herman De Young
Bill Gibson
Rating:
(36’047 votes)
(36’047 votes)
Quotes:
« Greg Minor: [reviewing the film footage that Richard had secretly taken while at the nuclear power plant during the emergency] Whatever stuck valve it was, it's forcing them to deal with the water level. From their behavior, it looks pretty serious. As I remember the control layout, the annunciators they seem concerned with are also in the area of the core water level. I dunno… they might have come close to exposing the core.
»
« Dr. Lowell: If that's true, we came very close to the China Syndrome.
»
« Kimberly Wells: The what?
»
« Dr. Lowell: If the core is exposed for whatever reason, the fuel heats beyond core heat tolerance in a matter of minutes. Nothing can stop it. And it melts down right through the bottom of the plant, theoretically to China. But of course, as soon as it hits ground water, it blasts into the atmosphere and sends out clouds of radioactivity. The number of people killed would depend on which way the wind is blowing. Render an area the size of Pennsylvania permanently uninhabitable, not to mention the cancer that would show up later.
»
« Jack Godell: What makes you think they're looking for a scapegoat?
»
« Ted Spindler: Tradition.
»
« Ted Spindler: He was not a loony. He was the sanest man I ever knew in my life.
»
Trailer:
The China Syndrome
Runtime:122 minutes
Plots:
A reporter finds what appears to be a cover-up of safety hazards at a nuclear power plant.
While doing a series of reports on alternative energy sources, a reporter, Kimberly Wells, witnesses an accident at a nuclear power plant. Wells is determined to report the incident but soon finds herself entangled in a sinister conspiracy to keep the full impact of the incident a secret.
KXLA Television human interest reporter Kimberly Wells aspires to do hard hitting news stories, whereas station brass wants to keep her to her current position; they’re more concerned about the color, length and style of her hair than her investigative abilities. While doing a human interest story at the Ventana nuclear power plant, she may have stumbled onto her dream story when on-site she witnesses what she thinks is a near nuclear disaster. Her freelance cameraman and friend, Richard Adams, clandestinely films the event as it unfolds in Ventana’s control room. However, station brass quashes the story due in part to liability issues. Although disappointed, Kimberly initially follows her boss’ directives as she wants to protect her career path, whereas Richard wants to use the film to really find out what happened. Uncovering the truth hits an early snag when the regulatory commission reports that the plant faced no major issue during the incident. Both Kimberly and Richard believe the quick and favorable report was due to the fact that development of another nuclear power plant is currently going through the public consultation process. Back at the plant, Jack Godell, the supervisor on duty in the control room during the incident, believes that something indeed is wrong with the plant due to the event, when he felt a tremor on-site. His beliefs are strengthened due to some radioactive leak in the plant from an unknown source and the discovery of some falsified documents, the latter which he knows may be a threat to his life by the perpetrators. Jack, with Kimberly and Richard’s help, does whatever he can to get his story into the public consciousness to avert what he thinks is a potential nuclear meltdown at the plant. But the power company is determined to keep Jack quiet and to protect their billion dollar investment, namely Ventana.
