Who would have thought that a well functioning nuclear power plant could blow up a marriage? When Martin Johnson takes up a research position at a nuclear power station in North Wales, he does not foresee the tragic outcome this move will have for him, his wife Sally and one-year-old Joey.
The couple met at Oxford where Sally, an American studying history, and Martin, finishing his doctorate in nuclear physics, fell deeply in love. Their philosophical differences about nuclear power didn't really matter while Martin was an academic. However, when he takes the hands-on job in Wales, the conflict can no longer be ignored. Nothing goes right for Sally who finds her new home bleak, wet and hostile. Worst of all, because of her husband's job, she is scorned by most members of the local community. The locals resent the nuclear power plant. A valley had been flooded and inhabitants evicted from their homes in order to build the facility, which they now believe is poisoning their environment. When Sally is persuaded by a former lover to speak at an anti-nuke demonstration outside the power station, she sets off a chain of events with shocking consequences.