The Leaky Establishment

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The Leaky Establishment is a novel by David Langford, first published in June 1984 by Frederick Muller (ISBN 0-584-31167-2) and re-issued, with an introduction by Terry Pratchett, in 2001 by Big Engine, then July 2003 by Cosmos Books (ISBN 1-59224-125-5). The book draws on some of Langford's own experiences working at the UK government's Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston, Berkshire.

[edit] Plot introduction

Roy Tappen works for the Robinson Heath Nuclear Utilisation Technology Centre, a nuclear weapons facility in Britain. He fights bureaucracy while trying to use it for his purpose, which is to undo the potentially disastrous results of a practical joke gone wrong.

Smuggling plutonium out of a nuclear research centre is surprisingly easy. The difficult part is smuggling it back in again ...