I can only imagine what the level of radiation in that area must have been...

Probably not a huge amount, the water in the cooling tower should not have been radioactive (unless it’s a spent fuel pool or something). I’m not an expert in nuclear stuff, but i do know it’s designed to not leak radiation out.

Well, op did say that it was abandoned. People don't usually abandon nuclear power plants without a very good reason.

They abandon them when they get old, and dont want to modernize it. You don’t hear about those as much because nothing bad happens. Granted, yes, we don’t know where this one is.

That actually sounds legit. The news would have nothing to sensationalize because there is nothing remarkable happening there.