At an Australian Atomic power plant, a tour has started where several members of the press are being shown around the place. One of the reporters asks about how secure the place is, as atomic power is so dangerous, but the tour guide assures them that this plant is very safe, and the chances of a disaster happening are very slim. The reactor is in complete control by the staff, so nothing can go wrong. As he is saying this, The Hood is hiding nearby.
The Hood starts to take pictures of various instruments around the plant, but is spotted by a guard. The guard tells him to come out and keep his hands up, but The Hood pulls out a gun and starts firing at him.
One of his shots hits a canister on the wall labeled "GAS". Not surprisingly, the canister explodes in a massive fireball, with such power that it sets off things next to it chain reaction style. Soon the plant is ablaze and non-essential staff are evacuated. The staff left hope the fire crew can contain the fire as if it reaches the reactor, the entire site will explode.
The Hood has escaped and says he will get the plans for that atomic power station if it is the last thing he does. Meanwhile the staff are trying to shut down the reactor as the fire cannot be contained, but they can't do it in time as they can't cut the intake. However they then receive news that all staff are being evacuated and that a plane is being sent in to pick them up. Said plane has already arrived at the plant, and lands.
As the fire spreads to the reactor, the remaining staff board the plane, which takes off and leaves at top speed. Moments later, the plant is completely destroyed in an atomic explosion.
As well as the huge fireball, the explosion causes a cloud of radioactive dust to be released. A press conference is later called in Australia where a man thanks them for coming and introduces General Speyer. Speyer takes to the stand and says that so far, the press have been asked to play the explosion down to not cause a public panic. However there is a problem: the radioactive cloud. They have been trying to disperse it but have so far been unsuccessful.
To make things worse, the cloud is moving towards their major cities. Unless the weather intervenes, Melbourne will have to be evacuated. However, the weather does happen to intervene, as a powerful wind sends the cloud away from Melbourne and disperses it. News soon spreads that the atomic cloud is no longer a problem. 12 months later...
...and another atomic plant is opened, this time in Africa. This news reaches the temple of The Hood, and he remembers failing to get the plans a year a go. But this time he has a new plan which cannot fail, and he will make a fortune by selling the plans of the atomic station.
Out in space, John docks Thunderbird 3 with Thunderbird 5, as it is his turn to man the space station. Alan swaps places with him and asks why he is a little late, and John tells him it is because he and the others were busy for Penelope's arrival. She is desperate to go out on a rescue mission, but Alan doesn't think she'll get a chance -things have been that quiet recently. On Tracy Island, Penelope has arrived, and is thrilled to be here. It is the first opportunity she's had to come here since International Rescue started operations. But she doesn't consider herself part of the team until she has been out on a rescue mission herself. Jeff doesn't know what to say to that as they've had nobody to rescue for a while, and instead asks where those drinks got to.
Parker is also on Tracy Island -and he is having an argument with Kyrano over who should serve the drinks, as they both think it is their own job. They end up making the contents of the tray smash all over the floor, which is something Jeff hears. From the sounds of it they're going to stay thirsty. Grandma Tracy says she has never been to a Stately home before and Penelope tells her she must come and visit someday.
At a government research unit, a meeting is taking place. Professor Holden shows several other professors a new invention: the Mighty Atom. It is a highly advanced camera which is hidden inside a small mouse, which looks as genuine as a real mouse and can be moved around via remote control. Holden says this mouse could be used to photograph things at places such as an enemy base or installation.
He gets one of the other professors to use the remote control and move the Mighty Atom around. He says that the mouse has been electronically set so it can only take pictures of a human face. However, as scientists and technicians will often spend time at control panels, it would be possible to take a picture of certain instruments by taking a picture of the scientist/technician next to it. Holden has this demonstrated, and shows how clear the pictures the Mighty Atom can take are.
Whilst the other professors say this is a step forward in espionage, another professor asks what will happen if someone sees the Mighty Atom, Holden explains that the mouse will scamper away to the nearest cover, like a real mouse. However the professor who asks him this suddenly makes his eyes glow, and makes everyone in the room fall unconscious. The Hood was in the meeting from the start, and he takes the Mighty Atom.
Meanwhile on Tracy Island...not much is happening. Penelope is getting anxious, as she tells Tin-Tin you'd think someone somewhere would need International Rescue. Meanwhile, The Hood is driving through the badlands when he comes across the newly constructed atomic power plant.
He goes down to take a look around, and after taking cover behind a wall, he sends out the Mighty Atom. He has it go into one of the control rooms of the plant and starts getting pictures.
A technician sees the mouse and goes off to tell his supervisor that they have mice in the place, but the supervisor doesn't believe him and tells him to cut it out. When he leaves, The Hood brings the Mighty Atom back out and collects it. The Hood is pleased with the pictures he's got, but then has a great idea: if he got a fire started at this plant like he did at the last one, International Rescue would come. If they did, he could use the Mighty Atom to get pictures of their aircraft.
Back on Tracy Island, Alan tells Penelope that they've got an emergency -Scott is in danger! They need her help. She immediately starts blurting out all kinds of orders, such as wanting Thunderbird 1 to launch and shouting to Parker that he needs to get her car ready. Virgil and Gordon then laugh out loud and reveal it was all a joke -Scott is fine and there is no emergency. Penelope thinks they're rascals.
Meanwhile The Hood sets up several highly powerful explosives without anyone seeing him, and then retreats a fair distance and waits. He counts down the timer and as it reaches zero, the plant is rocked with several explosions.
Two guys in the plant see that the instruments have gone crazy -most of the plant is automated, but something is clearly wrong. One of the technicians wants to evacuate, but the other doesn't -he remember what happened at another plant in Australia 1 year a go and knows about the radioactive cloud that can appear should the atomic reactor explode. He decides to call International Rescue -the group were not in operation a year a go but now they may be the only ones who can save the day. John picks up their signal and finds out the details.
He contacts Tracy Island, and Jeff asks Brains what they should do. Brains says Thunderbird 4 will be needed as it will need to go into the waters and cut off the sea water intake to the plant. Jeff tells Scott to move out immediately, but when Penelope asks if she can go on this, he refuses, saying it is too dangerous. However she still wants to go as it may be her only chance, so he decides to let her and tells her to find Gordon and Virgil. Meanwhile, Scott gets into Thunderbird 1 and blasts off.
Thunderbird 2 also blasts off a few minutes later. The technicians are trying their best to keep things under control, but they find out from a computer the atomic reactor will explode in 1 hour. A short time later, The Hood watches as Thunderbird 1 lands at the plant.
Thunderbird 2 arrives at the sea, and drops pod 4 into the water. The pod door opens and Thunderbird 4, which Gordon pilots, shoots down into the sea. He finds where the sea intake is and tells Scott he is awaiting further instructions.
Scott says Virgil is on his way here now and they will try and get the reactor under control, and then Gordon will have to cut the sea water intake at the precise moment, if he gets it wrong the whole place will go up. Scott then finds out that they only have 20 minutes left before the place will explode anyway. Thunderbird 2 lands near to the plant, but The Hood has seen that International Rescue has arrived, and he deploys the Mighty Atom.
Virgil tells Penelope to stay in Thunderbird 2 as she can use the communications equipment to contact Tracy Island should anything go wrong. He enters the plant and meets Scott, and the two of them put on protective suits before moving into the control room. Virgil starts pushing the reactor rods for reactor #3 back into place...
...which fixes it. He then does the same for reactors #4 and #5, and with those back in the clear, Scott tells Gordon to fire torpedoes.
Thunderbird 4 launches a couple of torpedoes at the sea water intake, which blocks it off and makes the reactor safely shut down. The technicians are very relieved. Meanwhile, the Mighty Atom has gotten into Thunderbird 2, but Penelope has seen it...cue lots of screaming.
Later on, Thunderbird 1 takes off, as does Thunderbird 2. Virgil gets a good laugh out of Penelope, who fails to see what is so funny -she just doesn't like mice, that's all. Virgil says he'll change the subject and contacts Tracy Island, saying that they will be returning to base after they pick up Gordon and Thunderbird 4.
Having returned to his temple, The Hood eagerly awaits the pictures that will show him the secrets of Thunderbird 2. What he gets, however, are a lot of completely useless shots of Penelope cowering from the mouse. His plan ruined, The Hood takes out his anger on the Mighty Atom itself and destroys it.
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