Podcast Summary

Episode Overview

Podcast: New Books Network
Host: Dr. Miranda Melcher
Guest: Dr. Tom Bolton, author of Atomic Albion: Journeys Around Britain’s Nuclear Power Stations (Strange Attractor, 2025)
Date: February 11, 2026

Theme/Purpose:
This episode explores Dr. Tom Bolton’s deep dive into Britain’s nuclear power stations—both their physical landscapes and their cultural, historical, and philosophical implications. Bolton retraces his journeys to these remote sites, analyzing how Britain’s nuclear infrastructure shapes (and is shaped by) environment, memory, risk, and national identity.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Genesis of the Book and Personal Motivations

• Bolton’s background: Writer focused on landscape and culture (Lost Rivers of London, Essex Coast)—attracted to overlooked or “under the radar” places. ([02:14])

• Inciting events:

  • During research for his Essex book, Bolton kept encountering Bradwell Nuclear Power Station, an enormous structure literally overshadowing its remote environment.
  • Childhood revelation: His village’s post-war expansion was tied to aircrews ready to fly nuclear deterrents; daily normality was shaped by the nuclear shadow.
    • "The combination of very, very ordinary and built into that an extreme scenario, made me think, what's really going on here?" ([03:43])

• Inextricable link between civil and military nuclear:

  • Facilities support both energy and defense infrastructure; e.g., Sizewell C is justified for both power and weapons-skill maintenance. ([05:03])

2. The Sites Themselves: Scale, Spread, and Access

• Number and Distribution:

  • 16 nuclear generation sites in the UK—some famous (e.g., Sellafield, Hinckley Point), others virtually unknown. ([09:06])
  • Located on England, Wales (only 2), and Scotland’s edges; none in Northern Ireland or Eire. ([10:05])

• Why visit in person?

  • Desk research covers technical and regulatory issues, but physical presence reveals the emotional, architectural, and landscape experience: Where “cathedral-sized” structures meet stunning, often misunderstood, natural environments.
    • “The combination of that and a nuclear facility is, quite frankly, at times thoroughly weird.” ([13:50])

• Getting there/Access:

  • Reached via public transport and walking—generally coastal and isolated.
  • Entry is highly restricted; perimeter patrolled by the Civil Nuclear Constabulary.
    • "At Sellafield, even walking around the perimeter... is enough to attract attention." ([15:01])
  • Some visitor centers exist but are uncommon; visiting involves NDAs and only limited insight into actual operations. ([18:46])

3. Decommissioning and the Eternal Problem of Nuclear Waste

• Dismantling process:

  • Most UK reactors (especially early Magnox and advanced gas-cooled) have ended their 40-year operating lives.
  • Decommissioning takes up to 150 years due to lengthy radioactive cooling storage.
    • "It's a timescale that doesn't really exist in public decision making outside of this context." ([21:42])

• Nuclear waste storage conundrum:

  • No permanent solution exists for high-level waste (e.g., the “Geological Disposal Facility” remains unbuilt); waste remains hazardous longer than human history.
  • Notable building: Sellafield’s B30 (“Dirty 30”), “the most dangerous building in Europe.” ([22:45])

• Philosophical and practical dilemmas:

  • Governments have commissioned philosophers to study how to warn future civilizations about nuclear sites, e.g., the “nuclear priesthood” or genetically engineered “Raycats” that would change color in radiation. ([25:42])

    • "You create markers … and it draws curiosity … We excavate stuff as archaeologists … But that mustn't happen with nuclear storage … and it's a problem we've not solved." ([25:13])

4. Site Selection & Safety—Mistakes, Near Misses, and Design

• Original criteria:

  • Edges of country, ex-military sites, access to sea for cooling and shipping, deep-water anchorage; often repurposed airfields. ([27:24])

• Leftover traces:

  • Old runways, derelict huts, odd reuses like schools sited within reduced plant boundaries (e.g., Berkeley).

• Historical accidents:

  • Windscale fire (1957): World's worst UK nuclear accident—nearly irradiated the north of England; “luck rather than design” prevented widespread contamination.
  • Other near disasters:

    • Example: Sizewell, 2008—cracked containment pond, water loss, near core fire/explosion as occurred in Fukushima. ([31:00])

    • Many incidents covered up or only revealed much later.

    • “Every nuclear power station is, under the wrong circumstances, a nuclear bomb … we don't tend to think about it like that because really, it's a bit too alarming and difficult to deal with, I think.” ([37:35])

5. Design, Modularity & the Future

• Early flaws vs. modern improvement:

  • Early designs (e.g., Windscale’s air-vented piles) were “terrifyingly amateur”—modern ones are highly regulated and technically competent.

  • Magnox, advanced gas-cooled, and PWR at Sizewell operated “broadly successfully,” but near-misses remain a threat. ([39:19])

    • “It’s hard to balance the industry view of effective and productive power plants with the near misses that have happened.” ([41:51])

• Next phase: Small Modular Reactors (SMRs):

  • Privately promoted as flexible, quick-to-build solutions (esp. for AI/data center power needs)—but currently unproven, with only two SMRs operating worldwide.
  • AI boom and tech industry interests are reviving the nuclear construction agenda.
  • Uncertainties abound:
    • "It's a golden age for nuclear promoters … There are lots of people invested in nuclear who want nuclear to continue regardless, really, of alternatives." ([43:51])

6. Cultural, Philosophical, and Environmental Layers

• Unexpected overlaps:

  • Some power stations built at places rich in cultural symbolism (e.g., Winfrith, Dorset—Hardy’s Egdon Heath, Lawrence of Arabia’s grave nearby, site for both far-left and far-right imagination). ([45:55])

• Nuclear as an epoch:

  • The creation of nuclear technology marks the start of the “Anthropocene.” Radioactive isotopes now mark every continent due to testing.
    • “With that comes incredible power … nuclear power and weapons give you the means to control the world, but with that come the vast responsibilities … Nothing can ever be the same again.” ([48:33])

• Power & Fragility:

  • The invisible, abstract nature of radioactivity compounds public misunderstanding and risk denial.
  • “We know it's dangerous, but until something happens, the concept is just kind of abstract because it's invisible.” ([34:16])

7. Final Reflections & Future Work

• Bolton’s final lesson:

  • “It's really worth looking at the things you're not supposed to look at … these places were in fact a lot more significant than I'd imagined, both in environmental terms but also in cultural terms.” ([45:55],[46:20])

• Up next for Bolton:

  • Returning to an earlier project—revising and merging his books about London’s lost rivers. ([50:36])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• "It's as though we've created an alchemy. Some of these buildings look like they're designed by giant celestial alchemists. They seem like a kind of chemistry spiraling somewhat out of control … the philosopher's stone." – Dr. Tom Bolton ([47:17])

• "Every nuclear power station is, under the wrong circumstances, a nuclear bomb … we don't tend to think about it like that because really, it's a bit too alarming and difficult to deal with, I think." – Dr. Tom Bolton ([37:35])

• "Once you've created a nuclear reactor, you have created a problem for humanity which all subsequent generations will have to deal with." – Dr. Tom Bolton ([21:03])

• "We try not to think about them. We try to keep people away from them … They look like cathedrals, but they're not at the center of our cities." – Dr. Tom Bolton ([07:13])

• "Since the first exposure of the first nuclear bomb, the Trinity Test, in 1945 in New Mexico desert, we've been in a different geological epoch, the Anthropocene." – Dr. Tom Bolton ([49:11])

Important Timestamps

• [02:14] - Bolton’s background and formative influences
• [05:03] - Civil/military nuclear interdependency
• [09:06] - Total number and spread of UK nuclear sites
• [13:25] - Strangeness of their architectural/landscape contradictions
• [15:01] - Civil Nuclear Constabulary and access restrictions
• [20:39] - Decommissioning timescales and challenges
• [22:45] - Sellafield's high-risk status and ongoing waste management
• [25:13] - Philosophical dilemmas of nuclear waste warning
• [31:00] - Windscale fire, Sizewell near-miss, and accident secrecy
• [39:19] - Technical improvement vs. near miss risk
• [43:51] - Nuclear industry revival and AI-driven demands
• [45:55] - Cultural resonance of power station sites
• [49:11] - The Anthropocene and nuclear’s planetary legacy
• [50:36] - Bolton’s next project on London’s lost rivers

Tone & Style

The conversation is both candid and poetic, mixing practical, technical, and historical facts with Bolton’s reflective, often philosophical insights into how overlooked infrastructure shapes the environment, society, and even human psychology. There is a sense of awe at the scale and strangeness of these sites, tempered by clear-eyed warnings about technological arrogance and the unresolved specters of nuclear power.

Summary for Non-listeners

This episode will give you a vivid sense not only of Britain’s nuclear power stations—their locations, histories, and dangers—but also of how they loom in landscape, memory, and culture. Dr. Tom Bolton’s journeys offer insight into both the visible and invisible ways nuclear power has reshaped the contours and psychology of Britain, leaving listeners with urgent questions about legacy, risk, and what we choose to see or ignore.