BUREAU OF LOST CULTURE – Atomic Albion (22/11/2025)

We are on the brink of a new nuclear age – the energy crisis, the push towards net zero and the gargantuan power requirements of AI demand it – or so we are told.  But here in Britain, the old nuclear age isn’t just a historical footnote—it’s etched into the very landscape.

Tom Bolton’s extraordinary new book, Atomic Albion: Journeys Around Britain’s Nuclear Power Stations, not only maps the physical geography of Britain’s atomic ambitions, but also digs into their psychic, mythic and cultural impact. 

Tom went on an epic journey around the UK to explore these extraordinary,  imposing locations in the nuclear landscape, from the 16 vast concrete cathedral-like power stations on remote coasts to the hidden nuclear missile silos – sites that cast a long, physical, cultural and environmental shadow over Albion – past, present, and into the distant future.

With great power comes great responsibility, as Spider-Man’s Uncle Pete said. And of course, where there is state power, there has always been countercultural dissent,  quite rightly in this case, because the power we unleashed by splitting the atom could bring us to the very brink of oblivion.

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