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Paper short abstract

Wylfa is at a crossroads: a celebrated nuclear future of new SMRs or a derided future of renewables—wind and solar farms covering large areas of what was once picturesque farmland. This paper reflects on the landscape's history and the impact of visual culture on this divisive energy transition.

Paper long abstract

Keywords: Technoscientific-Landscape, Magnox, SMRs, Historical Sedimentation.

In the face of a rapidly changing energy future, what role does the Technoscientific-Landscape play in engaging local people?

The Magnox reactors at Wylfa Power Station were the most advanced first-generation UK civil reactors. Their site was among Dame Sylvia Crowe's most accomplished landscapes. This was a public landscape that seemingly extended to the very edge of the reactors, a feat enabled by technical innovation. Crowe, a landscape architect of international standing, had given form and legitimacy to these new cathedrals of power within rural landscapes during the 1960s.

The landscape design success at Wylfa has subtly influenced local understanding of nuclear technology; however, the site has become an infrastructural zombie. Failure to build the second-generation reactor at the site in 1990 and again in 2021 has led to a persistent ‘future-in-the-making’ that never materialises, leaving the local population in limbo while ‘besieged’ by solar and wind farms that offer no tangible local benefits, such as employment or access.

Today, a new technology is seeking form and legitimacy, driven by private rather than public interests. In November 2025, Rolls-Royce announced its intention to build Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) at Wylfa. The Magnox Reactors were not designed for decommissioning and will remain on site long after the yet-to-be-built SMRs are demolished. The landscape, along with its historical sedimentation, holds the largest share of social capital on the small island of Ynys Môn. This paper examines the interface between historical legacy and new energy infrastructure.