afterheat

[af-ter-heet, ahf-]

noun

Physics.

1. the heat generated by radioactivity remaining in a nuclear reactor after it has been shut down.

afterheat

/ ˈɑːftəˌhiːt /

noun

1. the heat generated in a nuclear reactor after it has been shut down, produced by residual radioactivity in the fuel elements

Word History and Origins

Origin of afterheat¹

First recorded in 1970–75; after + heat

Example Sentences

Chernobyl offers many lessons about what Princeton University engineering professor Robert Socolow calls the "afterheat" of a nuclear disaster, but it's the generational lesson that's most important.

Read more on Time

Chernobyl offers many lessons about what Princeton University physics professor Robert Socolow calls the "afterheat" of a nuclear disaster — but it's the generational lesson that's the most important one.

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“Afterheat,” Robert Socolow, a Princeton University professor, called it in an essay for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, “the fire that you can’t put out.”

Read more on New York Times