Meanings
adjectiveprompt critical (not comparable)
- not comparablenuclear physicsIn a state where the prompt neutrons produced by a nuclear fission chain reaction are just sufficient to sustain the chain reaction on their own (past which changes in reaction power occur on a timeframe of milliseconds, too rapidly for a human operator to control).
The number of fissions in the two prompt critical excursions was estimated from (1) the doses received by the operator and shift supervisor and (2) the measured exposure rate from fission product gamma–rays (1.5 mR/s at 3 m from the vessel, 1 hour after the last excursion).
2000, Thomas P. McLaughlin with Shean P. Monahan, Norman L. Pruvost, Vladimir V. Frolov, Boris G. Ryazanov, and Victor I. Sviridov, “I. A. 17. Mayak Production Association, 10 December 1968”, in A Review of Criticality Accidents: 2000 Revision, Los Alamos National Laboratory, archived from the original on 24 Feb 2021, page 42
Cite this entry
APA
prompt critical. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prompt%20critical
MLA
“prompt critical.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prompt%20critical. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “prompt critical,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prompt%20critical.
Source: prompt critical on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.