Articles | Volume 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/sand-4-33-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/sand-4-33-2026
Research article
 | 
05 Jun 2026
Research article |  | 05 Jun 2026

“More Brent Geese than ever are visiting Bradwell”: an examination of the public-facing media messages promoting nuclear energy in the late 1950s and 1960s

Wenna Potter

Cited articles

A.E.I. John Thompson Ltd.: Power to cleanse our cities, British Nuclear Energy Conference Proceedings, 3, 1958. 
Boyle, A.: “Banishing the atom pile bogy”: Exhibiting Britain's first nuclear reactor, Centaurus, 61, 14–32, https://doi.org/10.1111/1600-0498.12220, 2019. 
British Pathé: Reactor on Tow, British Pathé, https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/190385/ (last access: 28 August 2025), 1959. 
British Pathé: Power Accepts Challenge, British Pathé, https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/87110/ (last access: 28 August 2025), 1966. 
Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB): Trawsfynydd Nuclear Power Station, Central Electricity Generating Board, 1961. 
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Short summary
Producing electricity from nuclear fission was a new concept in the 1950s. To engage the public, the industry publicised the construction and opening of each new power station in the 1950s–1960s. This article examines the industry narrative and argues that aspects were emphasized or hidden to suit the needs of the industry. Emphasis on scientific innovation and protection of the natural environment is evident, whereas elements of risk are omitted so as to promote an ideal method of electricity generation.
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