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About 400 workers tied to nuclear plant in Blair to be fired

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September 9th, 2016 by Ric Hanson

BLAIR, Neb. (AP) – A new filing with the Nebraska Department of Labor says about 400 Omaha Public Power District employees involved with the Fort Calhoun nuclear plant will lose their jobs by the end of 2019. District spokeswoman Jodi Baker tells the Omaha World-Herald that the number of affected employees is an estimate. The utility expected to have a more precise figure as it creates a clearer plan for closing the plant (located across the Missouri River from Missouri Valley).

The filing says the layoffs will occur in “several rounds.” The utility notified the first group of 58 employees on Sept. 1 that it would terminate their positions on Oct. 31, a week after the nuclear plant is scheduled to permanently halt operations. The Fort Calhoun nuclear plant is 20 miles north of Omaha. It employed about 700 people at its peak.