OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - The Omaha Public Power District is set to vote on whether to close the nation's smallest nuclear power plant in Fort Calhoun.

The Omaha World-Herald reports that the district board will vote on the fate of Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station on Thursday. 

 Once closed, a nuclear plant must undergo a decommissioning process to remove or decontaminate materials and equipment that have been exposed to radioactivity. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires decommissioning to be completed within 60 years of a plant's closing.

Cleaning up the site after its closure is estimated to cost about $1 billion.

 Power district President and Chief Executive Director Tim Burke has recommended using a decommissioning method that would give the utility the full 60 years to let radioactivity at the plant decay naturally and to fully dismantle the plant.