nuclear

nuclear, a. and n.
  (ˈnjuːklɪə(r))
  [f. nucle-us + -ar: cf. F. nucléaire, Pg. nuclear.]
  A. adj.
  1. a. Having the character or position of a nucleus; like a nucleus; constituting or forming a nucleus. Chiefly in Biol. and Astron.

(a) 1846 Dubl. Q. Jrnl. Med. Sci. II. 93 In place of a molecule of bone restored for one removed, we find cytoblasts, a nucleolated nuclear cell. 1861 H. Macmillan Footn. fr. Nature 31 Cells, containing granular matter arranged around a bright red nuclear body. 1888 Rolleston & Jackson Anim. Life Introd. p. xxii, The nuclear membrane is dissolved in mitosis.

(b) 1851 Nichol Archit. Heav. (ed. 9) 106 Who has well defined it generally as a nuclear centre. 1877 Stark in G. F. Chambers Astron. 57 There appeared a black, well-defined nuclear spot,..as large as Mercury. 1881 Proctor Poet. Astron. i. 40 Inferring that the nuclear parts of the sun are exceedingly dense.

(c) 1865 Mansfield Salts 120 The hydrocarbon is conjugated to the Oxygen of the nuclear or prostylobasic water. 1891 Edin. Rev. Oct. 336 A shaft was, at some remote epoch, sunk downward towards the expected nuclear hoard.

  b. nuclear cataract: (see quot.).

1878 T. Bryant Pract. Surg. I. 365 Nuclear cataract..is characterised by the presence of a hard yellowish central portion or nucleus of varying size and density.

  c. Central, cardinal; spec. in Linguistics and Phonetics, being or constituting a lingustic or phonetic nucleus.

1912 Housemaster's Lett. 91 You will forgive me if I tell you what I consider the nuclear fault underlying all this writing. 1940 H. G. Wells All Aboard for Ararat ii. 82, I must look round to find those nuclear men who are needed to carry through the next revolution.

1941 Language XVII. 224 In the structure of the syllable vowels are nuclear, consonants marginal. 1949 E. A. Nida Morphol. (ed. 2) 84 A nuclear structure consists of or contains the nucleus... In the word formal the nuclear element is form- and the peripheral element -al. Ibid. 118 There are a number of morphological classes represented by the nuclear immediate constituent. 1952 A. Cohen Phonemes of English 39 In general, independent nuclear words are first examined, i.e. words which do not carry morphological characteristics in the shape of phonemes and which do not show ‘outer sandhi’ (= external open juncture). 1962 A. C. Gimson Introd. Pronunc. Eng. x. 245 In the sense that the nuclear syllable stands out from amongst its neighbours (both accented and unaccented syllables), the nucleus and its situation may be said to have a special contrastive function. 1966 G. N. Leech Eng. in Advertising v. 48 The italicised portion represents a nuclear syllable. 1971 Language XLVII. 586 Linguists have long also recognized the existence of stress originating from phrasal structure: Chomsky and Halle call this the Nuclear Stress Rule. 1973 Archivum Linguisticum IV. 25 The different varieties of the same nuclear tone.

  d. Psychoanalysis. Central to the development of the sexual components of the ego; pertaining to or being the emotional nucleus of a neurosis, esp. the Oedipus complex.

[1913 C. G. Jung in 17th Internat. Congr. Med. xii. 67 The unconscious existence of manifold phantasies, which have their final root in the infantile past and turn around the so-called ‘Kern-complex’, or nucleus-complex, which may be qualified in male individuals as the Œdipus-complex and in females as the Electra-complex.] 1916 B. M. Hinkle tr. Jung's Psychol. of Unconscious ii. iv. 195 Taken at the roots in the case of our patients, the ‘nuclear complex’ (Freud) reveals itself as the incest problem. 1925 A. & J. Strachey tr. Freud's Case of Obsessional Neurosis in Coll. Papers III. 345 The formation of that complex which deserves to be called the nuclear complex of the neuroses. It is the complex which comprises the child's earliest impulses, alike tender and hostile, towards its parents and brothers and sisters, after its curiosity has been awakened. 1939 E. Glover Psycho-analysis x. 74 Findings of this order give rise to the tenet that the Oedipus complex is the nuclear complex of the neurosis. 1968 ― Birth of Ego i. 11 My views on the theoretical concept of the ego, and in particular on the ‘nuclear theory’ of its development. Ibid. 17 If one were prepared not to stick too slavishly to the idea of a fixed nuclear system one could put the psychic situation of the Oedipus complex in clearer perspective.

  e. nuclear family (Sociology): a term for the basic family unit or group, consisting normally of father, mother, and offspring.

1949 G. P. Murdock Social Structure i. 1 The first and most basic, called herewith the nuclear family, consists typically of a married man and woman with their offspring. 1963 A. Heron Towards Quaker View of Sex 56 This taboo is of social origin, designed to protect the basic unit of society—the ‘nuclear’ family—from disintegration. 1966 D. Jenkins Educated Society iii. 98 The extended, as distinct from the nuclear, family. 1971 Guardian 24 Mar. 11/6 If they get rid of the nuclear family there won't be grannies any more than there will be widows. 1973 Times Lit. Suppl. 29 June 736/1 This is a loose network of ordinary nuclear families.

  2. Of or belonging to a nucleus or nuclei, esp. atomic nuclei; also, with or by (atomic) nuclei.

1880 Proctor Rough Ways 94 One of the first and most obvious effects of this more rapid nuclear contraction would be [etc.]. 1882 Vines tr. Sachs' Bot. 582 They [the synergidæ] are the product of a nuclear division and cell-formation. 1899 Allbutt's Syst. Med. VI. 811 Nuclear palsy is characterised by bilateral..atrophy of the tongue. Ibid. VII. 237 The diagnosis of acute nuclear from acute infra⁓nuclear lesions. 1914 Engineering 20 Nov. 607/2 A point raised by Professor Rutherford concerning the effective nuclear charge. 1920 L. Doncaster Introd. Study Cytol. ii. 17 It is from the chromatin that the bodies called chromosomes, which play a great part in nuclear division, are formed. 1929 Physical Rev. XXXIV. 1501 The new quantum number is associated with the nucleus intrinsically in the same way that s is associated with the electron, and because of its similar properties might be interpreted as a nuclear spin moment. 1933 Discovery Apr. 106/2 With this generator, it is hoped to produce currents of the order of 1 milliampere at 5 to 10 million volts, and to insert a large vacuum tube between the sphere and ground for nuclear bombardment. 1934 Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. XX. 470 When certain substances are bombarded with deutons, many and varied nuclear reactions take place. 1935 Discovery May 150/1 The interpretation of atomic, molecular, and nuclear radiation. 1936 [see cyclotron]. 1945 H. D. Smyth Gen. Acct. Devel. Atomic Energy Mil. Purposes vi. 59 The pile was first operated..on December 2, 1942... This was the first time that human beings ever initiated a self-maintaining nuclear chain reaction. 1958 Times Rev. Industry Aug. 7/1 An article..on the nuclear bombardment of reactor metals..is evidence of the valuable work now being done. 1961 G. R. Choppin Exper. Nuclear Chem. i. 4 Nuclear transformations are on the order of 105 to 106 more energetic than chemical reactions on an individual molecular or atomic basis. Ibid. iii. 27 Nuclear scattering is a more important factor for electrons that it is for heavy particles. 1963 Oxf. Univ. Gaz. 9 May 1183/2 The University has established a Professorship of Nuclear Structure in the Department of Nuclear Physics. 1966 C. R. Tottle Sci. Engin. Materials x. 235 The term nuclear cross-section is used to define the effective area that the target nucleus presents to the neutron as it moves through the lattice, on a statistical or probability basis. 1969 Times 20 Feb. 17/5 A single type of nuclear reaction in the sun is thought to bathe each square centimetre of the earth's surface with a flux of 10 million neutrinos every second. 1970 Ambrose & Easty Cell Biol. v. 161 During cell division in both plant and animal cells the nuclear membrane disappears.

  b. nuclear energy or nuclear power: = atomic energy (atomic a. and n. A. 2 d). So nuclear-powered adj.
  In quot. 1930, merely ‘energy possessed by a nucleus’.

[1926 D. H. Lawrence Plumed Serpent vii. 130 She was attracted, almost fascinated by the strange nuclear power of the men in the circle.] 1930 Nature 20 Dec. 953/2 When a nucleus passes from an excited state into a state of lower energy, two different processes may occur: either a γ-quantum is emitted or one of the extra-nuclear electrons [is] thrown out of the atom..; in this case we speak of internal conversion of nuclear energy. 1941 in M. Gowing Britain & Atomic Energy (1964) 431 The results..indicate that it should be possible to develop a nuclear energy machine on these lines. 1945 H. D. Smyth Gen. Acct. Devel. Atomic Energy Mil. Purposes xiii. 135 The possible uses of nuclear energy are not all destructive. Ibid., There is no immediate prospect of running cars with nuclear power. 1945 [see sense 3 b]. 1948 Time 5 July 44/1 Since atomic fuel would have over two million times as much energy as gasoline, a ‘nuclear-powered’ plane could fly on and on. 1951 Jane's Fighting Ships 1951–52 6 The contract for the first nuclear-powered submarine has been awarded to the Electric Boat Co. 1958 Daily Express 11 Mar. 7/1 He was speaking on the hazards which arrive from the peaceful use of nuclear energy. 1962 H. D. Bush Atomic & Nucl. Physics vii. 137 For an isotope to be considered as a source of nuclear power, not only must fission be induced by neutrons of moderate energies but also the cross section must be reasonably high. 1970 Daily Tel. 30 June 4/8 A nuclear-powered cardiac pacemaker has been placed in an unidentified female patient in the second such operation in France.

  c. Applied to research and fields of study concerned with the atomic nucleus (as nuclear chemistry, nuclear physics) and to specialists in those fields (as nuclear physicist).

1933 Discovery Jan. 31/2 Lord Rutherford of Nelson, to whom so much of what is best in modern nuclear physics is due. 1934 Times 12 Dec. 19/3 The new field of nuclear chemistry was opening up with great rapidity. 1935 Discovery Oct. 291/1 The nuclear chemist, Professor Aston prophesied, ‘will transmute and synthesise atoms as his elder brother had done molecules’. 1936 N. Feather Introd. Nucl. Physics i. 2 The astronomer and modern physicist..discard inconvenient powers of ten for ease in forming mental pictures... But they invite danger whenever they forget what they have discarded. To such danger the nuclear physicist is particularly liable. 1945 H. D. Smyth Gen. Acct. Devel. Atomic Energy Mil. Purposes 247 The first man-made atomic explosion, the outstanding achievement of nuclear science, was achieved at 5:30 a.m. of that day. 1947 Sci. News V. 158 The most recent development of all is the production of new elements and isotopes by bombardment of elements with neutrons or other particles, but this so-called nuclear chemistry..is really a branch of physics. 1948 Nucleonics June 2 Nuclear engineering, concerned with the design, construction, and operation of nuclear fission reactors. 1956 A. H. Compton Atomic Quest 5 The use of the cyclotron was of epochal importance in nuclear physics. Ibid. 7 Nuclear research as a subject for wartime study. 1956 N.Y. Times 23 July 6/5 The coming years will bring to mankind limitless ways in which this new nuclear science can advance human welfare. 1964 M. Gowing Britain & Atomic Energy i. 33 The sobriety of the notes and articles concealed an intense excitement amongst the nuclear scientists. Ibid. x. 282 Ideas whose problems were to preoccupy the nuclear engineers for many years to come. 1969 Times 25 Jan. 17/5 Gamma rays are a familiar form of radiation to nuclear physicists. 1970 New Scientist 29 Oct. 230/1 About five years ago, the University of London decided to set up the first and still the only department in the United Kingdom awarding a first degree in nuclear engineering. 1973 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Starry Bird xviii. 278 He had offered to help track down some rather worrying leaks from our brave nuclear physicist boys.

  3. Pertaining to or employing nuclear energy. (In senses a and b opp. conventional a. 4 c.) a. Employing nuclear energy as a source of propulsive power or electricity.

1945 Engineering Jrnl. XXVIII. 757/1 A large stationary power installation might be used for heat and motive power in the Arctic or Antarctic regions..where the difficulty of transporting other fuels..outweigh[s] the disadvantages and difficulties of operating and maintaining a nuclear power plant. 1955 Tribune 22 Apr. 4/2 Nuclear power stations are designed to be safe. 1956 Jrnl. Brit. Interplanetary Soc. XV. 235 The range between the energy concentrations of the typical chemical combustion rockets with moderate exhaust velocities and those of not yet realized true nuclear rockets. 1957 Newsweek 12 Aug. 65/2 Nuclear-power plants capable of driving jets, rockets, or even space ships tremendous distances are being developed. 1957 Jane's Fighting Ships 1957–58 7 Advances in nuclear propulsion enable submarines to remain submerged indefinitely. Ibid. 50 It was officially stated in the 1957–58 Navy estimates that progress is being made with the design of the nuclear submarine ‘Dreadnought’. 1959 Daily Tel. 24 Feb. 11/8 The day has not yet arrived when nuclear ships can prove commercially much more attractive to ship owners than ships using conventional fuel. 1960 Aeroplane XCVIII. 772/2 During its development the first nuclear aircraft will inevitably have alternative chemical propulsion. 1961 Daily Tel. 4 Oct. 21/5 The United States plans to start flight test of nuclear rocket engines by 1967. 1968 New Scientist 18 Jan. 147/2 There are still no plans for a British nuclear ship, and now the Japanese are coming into the field. 1968 Brit. Med. Bull. XXIV. 260/2 It offers the possibility of biological monitoring of workers such as nuclear-power-station employees who are exposed to unusual environmental hazards. 1974 L. Deighton Spy Story xii. 118 He pointed down at the War Table... Ferdy had wiped out nuclear subs.

  b. Of a weapon: deriving its destructive power from the rapid, uncontrolled release of nuclear energy.

1945 Engineering Jrnl. XXVIII. 752/1 In view of the source of the energy, the current terms ‘atomic bomb’ and ‘atomic power’ might well be replaced by the more exact terms ‘nuclear bomb’ and ‘nuclear power’. 1948 Nuclear Science Abstracts 30 Sept. 265 Fourth, nuclear weapons have not reached their maximum size in the present type bomb. 1954 Commonweal 1 Oct. 621/2 It has been suggested that the nuclear warhead may be small enough to be fitted to an air-to-ground rocket. Ibid. 10 Dec. 279/2 The vocabulary of the nuclear age began to grow:..‘nuclear device’ vs. a deliverable weapon; [etc.]. 1955 [see deterrent n.]. 1956 Time 25 June 34/3 Hopping off on his inspection of nuclear-weapons testing grounds at Eniwetok and Bikini. 1956 Newsweek 3 Sept. 17/2 A nuclear device can mean either hydrogen or atomic. 1957 Observer 28 July 6/4 To keep the British nuclear deterrent up to date on its present scale in relation to the Soviet defence will cost more and more each year. 1958 Times Lit. Suppl. 15 Aug. p. xxxviii/3 After all, scientists put their skill in making nuclear bombs at the service of those who believe in things; so why cannot artists act correspondingly? 1958 in Ann. Reg. 1958 (1959) 519 The United States Government shall provide nuclear war⁓heads for the missiles transferred to the United Kingdom Government. 1965 H. Kahn On Escalation vi. 101 The U.S. should be willing to adopt the concept that the only purpose of nuclear weapons is to negate nuclear weapons... It should not try to get any ‘positive’ benefits from its nuclear weaponry. 1973 C. Bonington Next Horizon xxi. 283 The argument seemed settled, but then Don came on the air with the effect of a small nuclear weapon.

  c. Of, pertaining to, possessing, or employing nuclear weapons; nuclear club, the nations that possess nuclear weapons; to go nuclear, to acquire nuclear weapons.

1954 Commonweal 30 Apr. 83 (heading) Nuclear war: a false dilemma. 1954 Newsweek 8 Nov. 30/1 Talk and thought in government circle about nuclear weapons still seems to be geared largely to the period during which we alone had the capacity to wage nuclear warfare. 1956 Foreign Policy Bull. 1 Jan. 59 (heading) Nuclear tests: psychological defeat for West. 1957 Observer 28 July 6/3 It does not take a very elaborate calculation to realise that our contribution to the strategic Anglo-American nuclear striking force must be very small. 1957 Christian Science Monitor 15 Aug. 1 Nuclear club, those nations which possess nuclear weapons. The only current members are the United States, Britain, and the Soviet Union. 1958 Ann. Reg. 1957 166 The risk of leaving no alternative save nuclear retaliation in the event of war. Ibid. 347 The resolution urged that the United Nations and the ‘nuclear’ Powers should immediately suspend all such tests. 1958 New Statesman 22 Feb. 218/1 The response to last Monday's inaugural meetings of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament suggests that it is becoming a focus for a real movement of opinion on this issue. 1958 Economist 22 Mar. 1006/1 The starting point of most current speeches made by the nuclear disarmers is that a hydrogen-bomb war would be an unspeakably terrible thing. 1958 Spectator 15 Aug. 211/2 It seems impossible to convince them that a nuclear war, should it come, will not be like that. 1959 Daily Tel. 27 Feb. 10 There was real anxiety lest what we should need for non-nuclear wars had been excessively cut down in favour of what is needed to deal with nuclear threats. Ibid. 23 Mar. 18 The rate of descent from the stratosphere of radio-active debris, including strontium 90, from nuclear explosions. 1960 Spectator 26 Aug. 303 The American nuclear umbrella is a myth. 1963 Daily Tel. 1 Feb. 22/2 The Soviet Union might threaten us with nuclear attack. Ibid., A sort of last-ditch argument now being used by Conservatives under the heading of ‘nuclear blackmail’. 1964 Ann. Reg. 1963 133 The nuclear test ban treaty..symbolized their mutual determination to secure an abatement of the arms race. Ibid. 138 The treaty..did at least symbolize a new and welcome flexibility of outlook on the part of the leading nuclear Powers. 1964 M. Gowing Britain & Atomic Energy xiii. 346 Sir John Anderson's forebodings about a nuclear arms race between competing power blocs were not the result of his concern over the specific problem of the French. 1964 J. H. Rothschild Tomorrow's Weapons iii. 24 Nuclear warfare would include atomic (fission) bombs, shells, and mines, and hydrogen (fusion) bombs and missile warheads. 1965 H. Kahn On Escalation vi. 94 Alain Enthoven has described the nuclear threshold as follows: ‘In efforts to limit violence, there is..a recognizable, qualitative distinction that both combatants can recognize and agree upon if they want to.’ Ibid. 98 As Soviet nuclear capability has grown, the Soviets have..become less aggressive. Ibid. 297 A nuclear stalemate..exists when the balance of central war forces is such that neither side is capable of making a disarming first strike. 1967 Listener 11 May 607/2 The decision of certain powers to go nuclear would have the effect of making endemic regional conflicts totally insoluble. 1970 [see go v. B. 44 a]. 1973 Times 22 Feb. 16/4 He was attacking the nuclear disarmers or some such, who had for a time been predicting that we would all be blown up or poisoned by the Bomb. Ibid. 9 Nov. 20/1 The nuclear umbrella is now demonstrably in shreds. 1974 Sci. Amer. July 46/1 India became the sixth member of the nuclear club on May 18 by carrying out what it called a ‘peaceful nuclear explosion experiment using an implosion device’.

  d. = atomic a. 2 f.

1954 Commonweal 10 Dec. 279/2 With that tragic event the facts of the nuclear age were spread out for all to see. 1960 Koestler Lotus & Robot 11 The first generation of the Nuclear Age seems to have found a like solace in Zen.

  4. Special collocations: nuclear atom, (a) the concept of the atom as having the charges of one sign surrounding those of the opposite sign, which are regarded as concentrated in a much smaller central volume; (b) an elementary constituent of an atomic nucleus (nonce-use); nuclear battery, an electric battery that utilizes the separation of positive and negative charges accompanying radioactivity; nuclear emulsion, a fine-grained photographic emulsion specially designed for recording the tracks of sub-atomic particles in it; nuclear force, a force that acts between nucleons; now spec. the strong interaction; nuclear fuel = fuel n. 3 d; so nuclear-fuelled adj.; nuclear isomer (see isomer 2); nuclear magnetic resonance, magnetic resonance (see resonance) exhibited by atomic nuclei; nuclear magneton (see magneton); nuclear medicine, the branch of medicine concerned with the use of radioactive substances in research, diagnosis, and treatment; nuclear pile = nuclear reactor (see also pile n.³); nuclear reactor, an apparatus or structure in which fissile material can be made to undergo a controlled, self-sustaining nuclear reaction with the consequent release of energy; nuclear sap Biol. (see sap n.¹); nuclear waste, radioactive waste material from the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel; nuclear winter, a period of extreme cold and devastation that has been conjectured to follow a nuclear war, caused by an atmospheric layer of smoke and dust particles shutting out the sun's rays. Also nuclear fission, nuclear fusion.

1922 A. D. Udden tr. Bohr's Theory of Spectra iii. i. 61 The conception of atomic structure which will form the basis of all the following remarks is the so-called *nuclear atom according to which an atom is assumed to consist of a nucleus surrounded by a number of electrons whose distances from one another and from the nucleus are very large compared to the dimensions of the particles themselves. 1936 Discovery Jan. 31/1 The quantum mechanical theory of the nuclear atom. 1938 Nuclear atom [see alpha 3 e]. 1961 Powell & Crasemann Quantum Mech. i. 14 A nuclear atom had already been considered mathematically by Nagaoka in 1904, but it was Rutherford's analysis that established this concept as an experimental fact. 1970 G. K. Woodgate Elem. Atomic Struct. i. 1 Bohr's theory of hydrogen, based on Rutherford's nuclear atom and incorporating the ideas of Planck, was the famous starting point for atomic structure.

1955 Jrnl. Brit. Interplanetary Soc. XIV. 85 The *nuclear battery, thermo-couples, photo-electric effects, etc., present further possibilities. 1962 Simpson & Richards Physical Princ. Junction Transistors iv. 74 ‘Nuclear batteries’ in which the radiation consists of fast electrons from a β-emitter have also been built.

1949 H. Yagoda Radioactive Measurements with Nucl. Emulsions i. 6 These emulsions, intended for the registration of alpha-particle, proton, and fission-fragment tracks, are conveniently referred to as *Nuclear Emulsions. 1958 K. M. Hornsby tr. Glafkides' Photogr. Chem. I. xxiii. 409 Nuclear emulsions..have a very high concentration of silver bromide (80%), fine grain (0·1 to 0·5 µ), and are coated in very thick layers. 1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. IX. 584/2 Nuclear emulsion plates are important particle detectors for research in high-energy nuclear physics.

1935 Sci. Abstr. A. XXXIII. 2 (heading) Constitution of elementary particles and *nuclear forces. 1955 Friedman & Weisskopf in W. Pauli Niels Bohr 144 Our present difficulties in understanding the saturation of nuclear forces on the basis of the free nucleon-nucleon interaction speak in favour of some change in the internucleon potential when the nucleons are closely packed. 1972 Sci. Amer. Oct. 100/2 Although the nuclear force acts between all nucleons, whether they are protons or neutrons, it must overcome the disruptive influence of the electrical repulsion between the positive charges of the protons in the nucleus.

1946 Scientific & Techn. Aspects of Control of Atomic Energy (U.N. Dept. Public Information) i. 8 The *nuclear fuel provided by nature is uranium-235. 1948 Nuclear fuel [see fuel n. 3 d]. 1970 Daily Tel. 4 Nov. 5 Russia is prepared to supply West Germany with enriched uranium as nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes.

1968 Times 18 Oct. 16/7 The element [sc. gadolinium] can be used in the design of *nuclear-fuelled batteries.

1942 Physica IX. 591 (heading) Negative result of an attempt to observe *nuclear magnetic resonance in solids. 1970 G. K. Woodgate Elem. Atomic Struct. ix. 174 Some of the most accurate values of nuclear moments have been obtained directly by nuclear magnetic resonance.

1952 (periodical title) The American journal of roentgenology, radium therapy and *nuclear medicine. 1975 Univ. of London Bull. Feb. 5/2 This University stands alone in the United Kingdom in having supported since 1961, in one of its medical schools, an academic department devoted solely to nuclear medicine.

1955 Gloss. Terms Radiology (B.S.I.) 17 *Nuclear pile. 1962 F. I. Ordway et al. Basic Astronautics xii. 497 The effects in general would be the same as those experienced by victims of an atomic bomb blast or an accident in a nuclear pile. 1964 M. Gowing Britain & Atomic Energy x. 284 Now the doctors..also appreciated the great usefulness of nuclear piles for medical and biological purposes.

1945 Sci. Amer. Nov. 285/3 The radiation emitted by present *nuclear reactors requires..heavy shielding. 1948 Electronic Engin. XX. 148 An atomic pile, or nuclear reactor, consists usually of an assembly of uranium metal in a pile of graphite. 1955 Times 16 July 6/4 The first atomic stations of the Central Electricity Authority will have two nuclear reactors each, together providing a net output of electricity of 100 to 200 megawatts. 1966 J. Betjeman High & Low 31 No nuclear reactors Bulge hideous on the downs.

1974 Euro Spectra Mar. 23/1 Problems connected with the widespread construction of nuclear power plants..in particular, the problems attendant upon the inevitable production of ‘*nuclear waste’ which must be stored in safety for periods of hundreds or thousands of years. 1976 Glasgow Herald 26 Nov. 1/1 Environment secretary Peter Shore has delayed planning permission for the controversial {pstlg}600m nuclear waste reprocessing facility at Windscale. 1986 N.Y. Times Mag. 11 May 24/2 Most high-level nuclear waste from the military is in liquid form.

1983 C. Sagan in Washington Post Parade 30 Oct. 7/3 We considered a war in which a mere 100 megatons were exploded, less than one per-cent of the world arsenals, and only in low-yield airbursts over cities. This scenario, we found, would ignite thousands of fires, and the smoke from these fires alone would be enough to generate an epoch of cold and dark almost as severe as in the 5000-megaton case. The threshold for what Richard Turco has called The *Nuclear Winter is very low. 1983 R. P. Turco et al. in Science 23 Dec. 1283 (heading) Nuclear winter: global consequences of multiple nuclear explosions. 1984 Listener 27 Sept. 5/1 Scientists have discussed the nuclear winter and published their results in the open scientific literature. Ibid. 5/2 The possibility of a nuclear winter was discovered almost by accident. 1986 Times 20 May 14/1 Downwind from Chernobyl, the first faint chill of a nuclear winter has caused..shivers of anxiety.

  B. ellipt. as n. a. Phonetics. A nuclear word, sound, etc. Cf. nucleus n. 12.

1949 E. A. Nida Morphol. (ed. 2) 84 There are single-morpheme nuclears, e.g. count, poet.., and multiple-morpheme nuclears, e.g. waiter, hunter.

  b. A nuclear weapon. Also Comb., as nuclear-armed, nuclear-free, nuclear-tipped, adjs.

1957 Time 15 Apr. 29/1 The British decision to convert almost completely to nuclear-armed missles had deep meaning for all of the world. 1958 New Statesman 5 Apr. 423/1 The SPD are demanding in effect no nuclear weapons for the Bundeswehr, none for foreign troops stationed on German territory, and a nuclear-free zone in central Europe. 1959 Economist 14 Feb. 615/2 A nuclear⁓tipped anti-aircraft missile. 1962 Listener 29 Mar. 541/2 What difference does the presence of nuclear weapons make to the strategy and tactics of conventional war?..What is it that prevents either side from going to nuclears on the battlefield? 1964 Ann. Reg. 1963 73 The A.L.P. supported moves to establish a ‘nuclear-free zone’. 1964 Economist 7 Mar. 892/1 Armed with nuclear-tipped missiles. 1972 Daily Tel. 2 May 16 The current Nato strategy is one of flexible response, implying that both sides will seek to put off firing nuclears until the last possible moment. 1975 Nature 27 Mar. 281/2 It is widely believed that the CIA failed to retrieve the two chief items it wanted—the nuclear-tipped missiles and code machines.

  c. A nuclear-powered submarine.

1969 New Scientist 28 Aug. 420/2 One can imagine an enemy submarine lying in wait..to pick up the trail of one of our patrolling ‘nuclears’. 1974 ‘M. Hebden’ Pride of Dolphins i. v. 50 ‘Would you say Nanjizel was a good submariner?’ ‘He'd done his stint in nuclears.’

  
  
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   Add: [A.] [4.] nuclear holocaust, (the envisaged result of) a nuclear war or accident, esp. one involving widespread destruction of life and of the environment.

1955 Bull. Atomic Sci. Feb. 53/2 Extinction by a *nuclear holocaust is not the only palpable threat to Western civilization. Ibid. Mar. 101/3 He urges us not to be so paralyzed by fear of nuclear holocaust that we will sacrifice everything for peace. 1964 Ann. Reg. 1963 208 The Soviet reply..accused the Chinese of being willing to risk a nuclear holocaust. 1985 E. Gellner Psychoanalytic Movement ii. 31 There is of course the incalculable threat of a nuclear holocaust for us all.

  [B.] d. Nuclear power, esp. as an energy source. Freq. in phr. coal and nuclear.

1975 Chemical Week 1 Jan. 31/1 President Ford seeks to convert the nation's base-load power capacity to coal and nuclear by 1980, but that has been made all but impossible by recent cutbacks in nuclear construction. 1979 Time 8 Jan. 39/1 Adds the president of a New Jersey utility: ‘Our future is in coal and nuclear.’ 1988 N.Y. Times 2 Oct. iv. 8/2 ‘If coal is going to be banished,’ said Mr. Komanoff, ‘it's setting the way for the ultimate slugfest, between efficiency and renewables on one hand and nuclear on the other.’

Oxford English Dictionary