Nuclear Power Stations

Dounreay Nuclear Power Station (large)

Lost wax, kiln cast Uranium glass, shown in daylight. 2006

Dimensions including ultra violet neon lightbox:
160cm x 60cm x 25cm

Kate has collaborated with John Lloyd in creating a series of uranium glass sculptures
of Nuclear Power Stations.

These sculptures are of actual and fictional nuclear power stations: Doel in Belgium,
Sizewell in Suffolk, Dounreay in Caithness, Scotland, and Homer Simpson’s Springfield
in the U.S.A.

They are lost wax, kiln cast using uranium glass. Lit from underneath with ultraviolet
light, which excites the particles of uranium dioxide; they emit a bright acid lime green
colour. The use of uranium has been used as a safe colourant in glass since the mid-
19th Century. Here it suggests the vitrification of nuclear waste as a way of dealing
with the nuclear legacy. They address the death of the excitement for the post war
nuclear dream and the consequent de-commissioning of these buildings and the current
debate on recommissioning and renewables.

They were made with the help of a grant from Arts Council England for exhibition at
EAST international ’06 in Norwich.

Sizewell Nuclear Power Station

Lost wax, kiln cast
lead crystal glass
2006

Sizewell

Dimensions
(with white neon lightbox)
78cm x 36cmx 22cm

Dounreay Nuclear Power Station (medium)

Lost wax, kiln cast Uranium glass, shown in daylight. 2006

70cm x 30cm x 15cm

Springfield Nuclear Power Station

Lost wax, kiln cast Uranium glass, Ultra Violet neon. 2006

Dimensions including ultra violet neon lightbox: 45cm x 38cm x 28cm