Scram

Scram

!SCRAM button at the [Experimental Breeder Reactor I in Idaho. Sometimes the switch will have a flip cover to prevent inadvertent operation.](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/ff/EBR-I-SCRAMbutton.jpg/250px-EBR-I-SCRAMbutton.jpg)

Etymology

![Norman Hilberry (left) and Leó Szilárd at Stagg Field, site of the first self-sustaining nuclear chain-reaction](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/SzilardandHilberry.jpg/250px-SzilardandHilberry.jpg)

Etymology

There is no definitive origin for the term. United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission historian Tom Wellock notes that scram is English-language slang for leaving quickly and urgently (as in scrambling to get away), and he cites this as the original and most likely accurate basis for the use of scram in the technical context.

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