The China Syndrome (1979) on Netflix
KTLA reporter Kimberly Wells wants hard news instead of human interest pieces. At the Ventana nuclear power plant she and cameraman Richard Adams witness an emergency shutdown.
- Netflix4.1/5
- IMDb7.4/1036,222 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes88%
Trailer
Plot summary
KTLA 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.
Cast
- Daniel Valdezas Hector Salas
- Stan Bohrmanas Pete Martin
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The China Syndrome (1979)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The March 1979 release drew backlash from the nuclear power industry, which called it "sheer fiction" and a "character assassination of an entire industry"; twelve days later came the Three Mile Island accident, after which the studio pulled the film from some theaters to avoid appearing to exploit it.
- The film's meltdown scenario was drawn from real nuclear plant incidents: the key mishap of a stuck gauge needle making engineers misread a water level really happened at the Dresden plant outside Chicago.
