[ASSURAS] Imagine all the lessons still to be learned about nuclear energy in its infancy, back in 1957. That's when the country's first privately owned nuclear generator, a predecessor to the troubled facilities in Japan, went online in northern California. Back then, of course, the headlines were much, much different, reflecting our fascination with the promise of boundless nuclear-generated electricity, as you'll see in this energyTHEN. [Projector plays]

[NARRATOR] A new landmark rises at Pleasanton. It is the nation's first privately financed and operated atomic power plant. Leading figures in the atomic world are present for the inauguration ceremonies. Then a tour of the 5,000-kilowatt plant begins, with entry of the air-lock. Activity in the heavily shielded atomic pile is reflected on the scores of dials, as power from a pioneer source beings to flood through the countryside.

[ASSURAS] That facility was used as a test bed for the first large-scale GE reactors. Over six years of operation, it supplied as much power to the California grid as its modern successor can in less than two days. The reactor was closed in 1963, but the site remains an engineering landmark.