The China Syndrome

For the nuclear meltdown concept, see China Syndrome.

The China Syndrome
The China Syndrome promotional poster
Directed by	James Bridges
Produced by	Michael Douglas
Written by	Mike Gray T.S. Cook James Bridges
Starring	Jane Fonda Jack Lemmon Michael Douglas
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	March 16, 1979 (1979-03-16)
Running time	122 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$51,718,367

The China Syndrome is a 1979 American thriller film that tells the story of a reporter and 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.

The title 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" (see China Syndrome).

Plot

While visiting the Ventana nuclear power plant, television news reporter Kimberly Wells (Fonda) witnesses the plant going through an emergency shutdown (SCRAM). Shift Supervisor Jack Godell (Lemmon) notices an unusual vibration; then he finds that a gauge is misreading and that the coolant is dangerously low. The crew manages to bring the reactor under control.

Wells's maverick cameraman Richard Adams (Douglas) surreptitiously films the incident, despite being requested to turn his camera off for security purposes. When he shows the film to experts, they realize that the plant came close to the "China Syndrome" in which the core would have melted down into the earth, hitting groundwater and contaminating the surrounding area with radioactive steam.

Godell uncovers evidence that X-rays of welds have been falsified. He believes that the plant is unsafe and could be severely damaged if another full-power SCRAM occurs. He tries to bring the evidence to the attention of the public, but after threatening an employee of the construction company who built the plant, he is chased by goons of the construction company. He escapes by taking refuge in the plant.

To his dismay, he finds that the reactor has been brought up to full power. He grabs a gun from a security guard, forces everyone out, and demands to be interviewed on live television.

Plant technicians deliberately cause a SCRAM so that a SWAT team can force its way into the control room. The television cable is cut and Godell is shot by the police, but before he dies he feels the unusual vibration again. The resulting SCRAM is only brought under control by the plant's automatic systems. True to his predictions, the plant suffers significant damage.

Plant officials try to paint Godell as emotionally disturbed, but Godell's friend and coworker Ted Spindler (Brimley) states that Godell would not have taken such drastic steps had there not been something wrong. The film ends as the reporter's live signal abruptly cuts to color bars.

Cast

• Jane Fonda as Kimberly Wells
• Jack Lemmon as Jack Godell
• Michael Douglas as Richard Adams
• Scott Brady as Herman De Young
• James Hampton as Bill Gibson
• Peter Donat as Don Jacovich
• Wilford Brimley as Ted Spindler
• Richard Herd as Evan McCormack

Reception

The film was released on 16 March 1979, 12 days before the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. Coincidentally, in the film, physicist Dr. Elliott Lowell (Donald Hotton) says that the China Syndrome would render "an area the size of Pennsylvania" permanently uninhabitable. While some credit the accident's timing in helping to sell tickets, the studio attempted to avoid appearing as if it were exploiting the accident, which included pulling the film from some theaters.

External links

• Movie trailer
• The China Syndrome at the Internet Movie Database
• The China Syndrome at Rotten Tomatoes