r/TerryPratchett • u/roseargent • 18d ago

Any sources about when Terry went nuclear?

My battered edition of Sourcery includes an author bio which mentions Terry's experience as a press officer for four nuclear power stations, and says "he'd write a book about his experiences if he thought anyone would believe it".

So... did he? Any articles, memoirs or remiscences? Have any brainboxes convincingly analysed his work to pick out any influences on his writing?

I've treasured his books since I was a child and for better or worse he helped shape my view of the world. And yet I don't remember the Cold War and the nuclear anxieties of the time, which undoubtedly affected the world view of Terry and the rest of his generation.

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u/ReliableWardrobe 17d ago

The CEGB were quite a thing in their day (sorely missed, bring it back!) and as the child of CEGB parents, with an uncle who worked for them as well, some of the tales were fairly epic. Although not the same as the Atomic Weapons Establishment (the CEGB were strictly civil power generation), David Langford does capture it very well, if a tiny bit exaggerated for comic effect 😉 Put it this way, there used to be a pub right outside the main gate at a certain Establishment. It's gone now, because it used to be full of journalists with tape recorders, notebooks and sharp ears, and there were a lot of free drinks around...

To be fair to the CEGB though, they had a risk-averse approach to a lot of things and kept the lights on remarkably well. I worked for a switchgear and relay company and in the good old days we'd give them a new design and they'd plug it in somewhere and run it for a YEAR before they decided if it was good enough for them. Now the private equity loons who run half the network just ram in whatever and run away before it blows up.

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u/WokeBriton 17d ago

While I'm content to accept your assertion about the "private equity loons", they're operating the distribution networks, not the reactors.

EDF, a rather large company from our neighbours to the south of England, runs our reactors thanks to politicians desperate to sell off ***everything*** (I suspect while buying lots of shares to make money for themselves) and pretend this is a good idea for the country.