Yorkshire cop Craven returns home after picking his daughter Emma up at college, when a man fires a shotgun and kills Emma. Cop Craven has enemies but why'd Emma have a Geiger counter and a gun?

Craven comes to London to investigate, assuming the gunman meant to kill Emma and not him. She was a member of GAIA, an organization against nuclear power. Her body's radioactive.

During the arrest of Lowe, suspect in shooting Emma, he allegedly jumps out the window and falls 6 floors. Craven manages to get a name out of him at the hospital. Emma's lover gets killed. Emma's buried.

Craven is back home, where Emma's killer comes for him. He tries to get him to tell, who's behind - to no avail. A radioactive body is found near Northmoor. He "gets" access to MI5's computer and info on Northmoor.

3 men including Craven sneak into Northmoor "low grade" nuclear waste "storage" plant through mineshafts to investigate. Will they find evidence of murder of GAIA environmentalists and illegal plutonium?

Jedburgh heads to Scotland with the stolen plutonium while Craven awaits the inevitable end.