noun severe overheating of the core of a nuclear reactor resulting in the core melting and radiation escaping.
— synonyms: nuclear_meltdown
noun a disaster comparable to a nuclear meltdown.
Examples
“Four years have passed since the meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear plant, but the grim legacy of the Soviet catastrophe is still unfolding. https//web.archive.org/web/20041130094534/http://www.time.com/time/daily/chernobyl/chernobyl.index.html”
“Computer engineers were at a loss last night to explain why the Government had been hit by arguably the worst electronic meltdown in the history of Whitehall. https//web.archive.org/web/20041209011615/http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=587262”