and by tfrontline journalism fund, with a grant from millicent bell through the millicent and eugene bell foundation. major funding for this program is provided by the alfred p. sloan foundation, supporting public understanding of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. >> o'brien: passed. there's something that's both scary and awesome about nuclear energy. >> it will you give the rate at which you're receiving radiation as well as how much you've accumulated. >> o'brien: oh, i see. thanks to the magic of nuclear fission, this plant, indian point, generates about a quarter of new york city's electricity, with no greenhouse gases or air pollution. but the reality is indian point's nuclear technology is not cutting edge; it's old. >> so this is one of three emergency diesel generators. >> o'brien: the two working reactors here came on line some 40 years ago. it looks like an locomotive engine. westinghouse makes those, so i guess that makes sense. how many of these do you have, first of all? old as the plant is, indian point's owner, entergy, wants to run it for another 20 y