For 50 years, Cooper Nuclear Station has provided energy to over 300,000 Nebraska homes. Dan Buman, special assistant to the CNS vice president, said the station will run for at least another 30 years.

"We are preparing a submittal to the [Nuclear Regulatory Commission] that we will be making second quarter of next year," Buman said. "To the NRC to have approval to be able to extend that operating life out to 2054."

Despite generating 835 megawatts of energy, Nebraska Public Power District said Cooper might not be enough.

"All of the utilities in the state of Nebraska have been experiencing some record generation growth," Buman said. "We need not only all of Cooper, but we're actually adding at this particular point, we're adding some conventional generation."

The hunt has begun for a

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