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In the Star Trek fictional universe, a warp core breach (or core breach) and antimatter containment loss are both catastrophic events aboard a starship, either one of which can lead to that ship's destruction.
Warp core breach A warp core breach occurs when a starship's matter and antimatter reactant fuels combine in an uncontrolled manner due to a failure of the ship's warp core (TNG: "Contagion"). The resulting explosion can destroy the ship (q.v.; see "Occurences" below). Damage to a ship's warp reactor (such as the failure of the coolant system or other physical damage) can lead to a breach (Star Trek: Generations). A warp core breach can be initiated as part of a ship's auto destruct sequence (Voy: "Prophecy"). If a warp core breach is unavoidable, the warp core can sometimes be ejected from the ship (TNG: "Cause and Effect"). Some starships are modular, allowing a portion of the ship to separate from the section that contains the core (Star Trek: Generations). Antimatter containment loss Antimatter containment loss is related to a warp core breach in that both result in the uncontrolled mixture of a ship's antimatter fuel with normal matter, and both can lead to a ship's destruction (Star Trek: The Motion Picture). Containment loss stems from a failure in the ship's antimatter storage system, which relies on magnetic fields to keep the ship's antimatter "suspended" and out of contact with normal matter until being used by the warp core. That system's failure causes the suspended antimatter to interact with the matter surrounding it in an uncontrolled and devastating reaction (TNG: "Disaster"). As with core ejection devices, starships also have the ability to eject their antimatter storage units if it appears that their functionality may become compromised (TNG: "Contagion"). Occurrences Beverage A "warp core breach" is also a syntheholic drink (DS9: "His Way"). | ||||||||
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