Definitions

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

  • noun The emergency shutdown of a nuclear reactor, originally specifically by insertion of one or more safety control rods.
  • noun In a more general sense, an emergency shutdown.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Originally an acronym for Safety Control Rod Axe Man, a term used to refer to the person assigned to the duty of dropping the boron control rods into the "pile" at the University of Chicago in case of emergency. This task was accomplished by cutting the supporting ropes with an axe and allowing the rods to drop into the core by natural gravitational forces.

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  • Whiffy etymology.

    December 17, 2018