(By analogy with CatastrophiC failure of a nuClear reaCtor) An event that Causes saturation, or near saturation, of a network. Network meltdown usually results from illegal or misrouted paCkets (see Chernobyl paCket) and typiCally lasts only a short time. It may also be Caused by a hardware fault. It is the network equivalent of thrashing. [Jargon File] (2004-02-17)