Arco was celebrating its nuclear past this weekend, during the annual “Atomic Days” festival.

In 1955, the city became the world's first to be electrified by nuclear power.

Charles Pieper was just 33 when he made that historic flip of the circuit breaker, sending 2,000 kilowatts from the national reactor testing station to Arco. He says at the time, he didn't grasp the significance of it.

Now, a new generation of nuclear power could come to the region. Scientists at the nearby Idaho National Laboratory are planning a new high–temperature, gas–cooled nuclear reactor.

They hope it will produce both electricity and hydrogen, for a new generation of clean–running cars.