Shutdown and an incomplete cooling argument

A fictional conceptual reactor exercise states that a control action has reduced the neutron chain reaction to a subcritical state. It also explicitly states that radioactive fission products remain and continue to release heat. A trainee concludes that every cooling function can be ignored because criticality is no longer sustained. The problem provides no plant design, temperature history or permission to operate equipment. Its purpose is to distinguish the neutron balance from the complete thermal safety argument. Students must identify the remaining source term, the need for an appropriate heat transfer path and the information an actual safety analysis would need. The exercise must not be converted into a facility operating sequence or a claim that one specific cooling arrangement is universally required.