There are serious social issues: the environment, productivity, where you build your plant, how you structure your work force.

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They will record plant species, forest structure, ash cover, soil properties, river sediment and the overall topography of the burned area.

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So the probabilities of hitting a point structure like a power plant with a tornado drop precipitously compared to a hurricane, and the design basis for power plants varies accordingly.

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Water from Hurricane Sandy rose almost 7 feet above normal, threatening the water intake structure that pumps cooling water through the plant.

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Officials said they could not rule out the possibility of a meltdown, which occurs when nuclear fuel rods cannot be cooled and melt the steel and concrete structure containing them, at all three troubled reactors at the plant.

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Activity at the plant has already dipped below the 400, 000 annual hours of work needed to sustain an economical rate structure.

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