[przemo_li]

That's too native. Output is indeed cooled but only enough to be only fraction hotter then input. Then dumping is safe again.

This is also why most of those power plants have to shut down. It's not the physical lack of water, but instead input is already so hot that output would already be over the upper limit.

Nobody build enough cooling towers to cool with them "needlessly".

Which is also why global warming is disastrous to energy sector. Those older power plants just don't have enough cooling capacity for newer higher temperatures.