Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun physics A return to a point at which a nuclear reaction becomes self-sustaining.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

re- +‎ criticality

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Examples

  • Boron absorbs neutrons and helps prevent so-called recriticality, in which the nuclear reaction accelerates and reaches a self-sustaining level that is difficult to stop.

    Japan to Head Off Hydrogen Blast Mitsuru Obe 2011

  • Kyushu University's Mr. Kudo said that the restart of fission, a phenomenon known as recriticality, could not be ruled out until the reactors could be opened, allowing for an examination of the melted fuel.

    NYT > Home Page By MARTIN FACKLER 2011

  • Kyushu University's Mr. Kudo said that the restart of fission, a phenomenon known as recriticality, could not be ruled out until the reactors could be opened, allowing for an examination of the melted fuel.

    NYT > Home Page By MARTIN FACKLER 2011

  • The possibility of recriticality is not zero,'' TEPCO said in announcing steps to counter a possible fall in water levels in the pool storing the rods.

    New Fukushima fear: Spent fuel at No. 4 might restart chain reaction 2011

  • Tepco, the plant's operators, are considering spraying the reactor with boric acid from overhead, warning: ''The possibility of recriticality is not zero.

    Japan nuclear crisis - live updates 2011

  • Asked about the chance of meltdown, the company's answered with the memorable "the possibility of recriticality is not zero".

    Embattled Tepco faces its BP moment over Fukushima nuclear disaster 2011

  • Tepco, the plant's operators, are considering spraying the reactor with boric acid from overhead, warning: ''The possibility of recriticality is not zero.

    The Guardian World News Richard Adams 2011

  • It seems to suggest that if recriticality is to occur, that the reactor could heat up to unrestrained temperatures that would definitely breach the containment.

    The Guardian World News Richard Adams 2011

  • Experts have also expressed concern over signs of sporadic "recriticality" of the fuel, a phenomenon in which nuclear fission resumes in melted nuclear fuel lying on the floor of a storage pool or reactor core.

    NYT > Home Page By HIROKO TABUCHI 2011

  • I'm not much of a scientist, but I found a paper on the results of recriticality in a BWR boiling water reactor which I believe the Fukushima reactors are.

    The Guardian World News Richard Adams 2011

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