"Sir Michael Marsh: He saw a box. For all we know, it could have contained a picnic. (Looks at his watch) I last visited Omega One twenty years ago. We removed anything that could possibly be dangerous when we dismantled the place. It was quite a job, I can tell you, transporting everything out of the wood."

"Richard Cole: But Matt saw something..."

"Sir Michael Marsh: They couldn't... For a number of reasons. As you know, you can't just buy uranium. Even dictators in countries like Iraq have found it impossible to get supplies. Let's suppose these villagers of yours owned a uranium mine. It still wouldn't help. How would they process th stuff? How would they get the technical know-how and the resources?"

"Richard Cole: Maybe someone wants to get it running again."

"Sir Michael Marsh: (Ignoring Matt) At the heart of any nuclear power station is a nuclear reactor. The reactor is basically a massive concrete box - and it is in here that our controlled explosion takes place. The uranium is surrounded by long sticks called control rods. When you lift up the control rods, the explosion starts. And the higher you lift them, the more powerful the explosion becomes. The reactor is the most dangerous part of the station. You have to remember what happened at Chernobyl, in Russia. One mistake here and you risk what is known as an excursion, an explosion which might kill hundreds or even thousands of people and destroy a vast area of land for years. When the government began to think about building nuclear stations, about fifty years ago, they set up a number of experimental stations where they could study reactors in action and make sure they were safe. Omega One was the first of these experiments and I helped design and build it. It ran for less than eighteen months. And after we'd finished with it, we shut it down and left it to rot in the pine forest thaty surrounds it."

"Matt: Like the box I saw!"

"Sir Michael Marsh: Yes, Mr Cole. The radiation would indeed kill you. Which is why, when uranium is moved, it is carried in heavy, lead-lined boxes."

"Richard Cole: Except it would kill you... If you held it in your hand."

"Sir Michael Marsh: Gas, oil, coal... They're too expensive. And one day they'll run out. But uranium is incredible stuff. One tiny piece of it, if you held it in your hand, has enough power to keep a million electric heaters running non-stop for twenty-four hours."

"Matt: What's wrong with coal?"

"Sir Michael Marsh: A nuclear bomb contains devastating power. It can destroy an entire city, as it did, in the last war, at Hiroshima. In tests in the Nevada Desert, a small bomb blew out a crater so deep, you could have fitted the entire Empire State Building into it. The power of the bomb is the energy released in the explosion. And that energy comes from splitting the atom. Are you with me so far? A nuclear power station works in much the same way. It splits the atom in a metal called uranium but instead of producing an explosion, which is uncontrolled, the energy is released gradually, in the form of heat. The heat is fantastic. It turns water into steam, which then turns the turbines of an energy generator and out comes electricity. That's all a nuclear power station does. It turns water into electricity."

"Sir Michael Marsh: Well, let me tell you a bit about it. I'm sure you don't want a physics lesson, but you have to understand. We'll start with the nuclear bomb. You know, of course, what that is."

"Matt: ...Not a lot."

"Sir Michael Marsh: An impossibility, I'm afraid. (To Matt) How much do you know about nuclear power, young man?"

"Richard Cole: It is a possibility."

"Sir Michael Marsh: You think that someone is trying to start up Omega One?"

"Richard Cole: Matt couldn't see very much in the darkness, Sir Michael. But he said that the men were wearing strange, bulky clothes. I wondered if they might have been radiation suits."

"Sir Michael Marhs:And what conclusion have you drawn from all this, Mr Cole?"

"Richard Cole: Yes."

"Sir Michael Marsh: And he saw a lorry. Unloading some sort of box?"

"Richard Cole: Yes sir."

"Sir Michael Marsh: You say there were electric lights at the power station? And the boy heard a humming noise?"

"Richard Cole: I've been through. I'm meant to cover it. Me, Kate and Julia - They're the girls you saw downstairs - We've all got our own territories. I've got Lesser Malling. Lucky me!"

"Matt: Yes. Do you know it?"

"Richard Cole: You said you were staying at Lesser Malling."

"Matt: That's right."

"Richard Cole: Just Matt?"

"Matt: I'm Matt."

"Richard Cole: Alright. Come upstairs. My name is Richard Cole."

"Matt: I might have."

"Richard Cole: A story?"

"Matt: Look, maybe I can help you. You're a journalist. Maybe I've got a story?"

"Richard Cole: Busy being busy. Alright?"

"Matt: Busy doing what?"

"Richard Cole: Well, I was busy until you arrived."

"Matt: You don't look very busy."

"Richard Cole: Sorry, I can't help you. I was busy."

"Matt: I have. They sent me here."

"Richard Cole: Try the library."

"Matt: Yes."

"Richard Cole: And you're doing a school project?"

"Matt: (Taken aback) I go to school in Lesser Malling."

"Richard Cole: What school do you go to?"

"Matt: It's a school project."

"Richard Cole: Why?"

"Matt:I'm trying to find out about something."

"Richard Cole: What sort of help?"

"Matt: I need help"