Nuclear One

Russellville, Arkansas. 5:30 a.m. A janitor (HAYDEN) enters a vacant office at the NUCLEAR ONE power plant, inserts a flash drive into a computer connected to the internal network. Computers crash all over the facility. Outside, a tractor trailer carrying Monster Trucks SMASHES into a vehicle barrier at the Security Gate. RAMPS DEPLOY from the upper deck. The Monsters drive off the wrecked car carrier, OVER the barriers and OVER the electrified fences. Militia in the rear of the Monsters obliterate the guards. Alarms sound as Hayden enters the Reactor Control Room to do his morning clean up. Shift Supervisor BROOKE DAVIS locks down the Control Room- no one in or out until the crisis has passed. Nearby, COUNTY SHERIFF LEE HAMMOND sees smoke rising over Nuclear One. Brooke is one of the few people in town supporting him; she's leaving in 3 months when her tour ends and wants Lee to go with her. Lee doesn't want to leave. In the RCR, Hayden takes Brooke and the reactor crew hostage. He removes a disguise- REVEALING he's JACKSON MONROE- leader of a radical anti-government militia. He demands to speak with the President. FBI and NEST Agents are dispatched to Russellville. Lee kills several of Jackson's militia, but they corner him atop the 552 foot cooling tower and take him to the RCR, where Jackson announces his intention to overthrow the U.S. government. He cuts off power to Russellville, causing widespread panic, then forces Hammond to don a radiation suit, enter the reactor core and retrieve radioactive plutonium. The President begs Jackson to release his hostages. Jackson agrees, declaring "Everyone within 200 miles of here is my hostage." But he keeps Brooke as an "insurance policy”. Lee leads the hostages to safety, but the media label him a coward for leaving Brooke behind. He convinces the FBI he can help- he's familiar with the local militia groups. Crisis looms at the reactor. If it reaches 2800 degrees, the core melts down and radiation will kill everything within 200 miles. The militiamen demand Jackson let Brooke cool the reactor and save their lives. Jackson sprays them with machine gun fire, then adjusts the control rods with the knowing push of a few buttons. How does he know how to operate a nuclear reactor? Lee leads the FBI to Jackson's trailer. They find blueprints for an underwater sled and discover he was an engineer aboard a nuclear submarine. An agent trips a booby-trap. The trailer explodes, blows Lee out the door. In the RCR, Jackson completes assembly of his sled. At the Command Post, Lee warns the FBI Jackson has a well thought-out plan and urges them not to play into his hand. But the Feds give the order to storm the RCR. Desperate to save Brooke, Lee leaps into his car and races toward the river. Jackson plans to escape to the river through the non-radioactive cooling loop. By the time he surfaces, the core will melt down. Everyone will assume he died in the explosion. And he'll sell the plutonium to terrorists for a great deal of money. Brooke pleads with him, but Jackson replies, "It's just Arkansas." He grabs the plutonium canister and escapes into the plant's cooling system. Marines blast their way in and free Brooke, who races to stop the imminent meltdown. His getaway successful, Jackson pops up near a downstream dam. Lee appears, gun trained on Jackson. But Jackson's weapon is far more potent- he holds the plutonium canister over the water and threatens to poison everything from here to the Gulf of Mexico. Lee lowers his pistol, watches helplessly as Jackson escapes. Later, Jackson puts the finishing touches on his dirty bomb and explains to his buyers that the warhead is tied to a proximity detonator- it won't explode unless the remote detonator is a safe distance from the bomb. But they no longer want the bomb. Jackson screwed up the plan - Arkansas is supposed to be radioactive, everyone is supposed to believe he's dead, and no one was to know any plutonium was taken. They can't use a bomb everyone knows they have. Jackson kills them and decides to bomb the target himself. The President invites Brooke to Washington to award her the Medal of Freedom for her heroism in stopping the meltdown. The FBI gets a lead on Jackson and they need Lee- he's still the Sheriff. Lee promises to meet Brooke in D.C. At Jackson's abandoned hideout, photos of 13 American cities line the walls. The Feds have to deploy resources to each city to stop him. In Washington, Lee arrives on the steps of the Capitol, tells Brooke Jackson was gone, there are over a dozen possible targets and they don't know where he's headed. Jackson's been one step ahead of them the whole way. Brooke watches a long-haired hippie on a Harley-Davidson decorated with "No Nukes!" stickers. He parks the motorcycle, walks away. She realizes the photos were a ruse- Jackson wants the feds to deploy resources to every city but Washington. D.C. is the target. "That's him!" Jackson breaks into a run. Lee gives chase. Brooke leaps to the motorcycle- the keys are in it. She peels out. Jackson dashes for the D.C. Metro, hops on a train. Lee sprints alongside, draws his gun, blasts the glass door, leaps through. Above ground, Brooke races through stop signs and red lights. The train emerges from a tunnel. On the train, Lee works his way forward. Jackson pulls a remote detonator, pushes the button and-- nothing happens. He spots Brooke roaring alongside the train on his Harley. Lee follows Jackson's eyes to Brooke and the motorcycle... Lee pulls out his cell phone, signals frantically to her. She skids to a stop, answers her ringing phone. "You're riding on nuclear bomb!" Lee screams at her to stay on the bike and stay near the train to keep the bomb from going off. Brooke tears after the train. Lee attacks Jackson. The train enters the tunnel beneath the Potomac River. Brooke barrels onto the tracks directly behind. She leaps from the bike, pulls herself up, rushes to help Lee. The Harley bounces away. They overpower Jackson, take the detonator, throw Jackson from the train. Jackson races to the motorcycle, tries to kickstart it. The train emerges from the tunnel. BrrrrmmmBBBOOOOMMMM!!! The bomb detonates! Incinerates Jackson. A few days later, Brooke oversees the cleanup. The tunnel absorbed most of the radiation-- DC was spared. Lee takes a job with the FBI- whatever post he wants. He'll go wherever Brooke's next job takes her.