Tp, you should change the top post to say spoilers inside or below a certain point.
If they keep reading it's on them.
Getting serious Fallout vault vibes.
Anyhow...
Outside = bad
I'm 100% convinced outside is fake and there is multiple hints (in spoiler below because it could ruin it for you).
When the generator went down and they quickly showed the screen in the cafeteria, it flashed green like the sheriff saw, not the muted colors. Couldn't tell if there was bodies, but it did change tint. Like the wife said, it's an A.I. generated movie of them cleaning. This is also why they're not allowed to have magnification lenses (they'd see something's off) and why they aren't allowed tech such as the movie camera, they'd start to question what they see on the screen. The guy in the cafeteria is also on track to figure it out when he started seeing patterns in how the stars move on the screen because it's just a repeating pattern. I guess the creators didn't expect anyone to have the patience to sit and map out the movement or the creator of that part of the program got lazy. So what about the sheriff? For one the sheriff didn't see his wife's body, he was heading over the hill. For all we know he was just simply struggling to catch his breath probably because the suit has limited air or it has poisoned air. We never got actual confirmation of his death other than from the silo camera which showed him next to his wife's body, a body he himself didn't see.
Turbine blades
Yes, they could just remove the opposite side and it would be balanced (assuming it has an even number of blades), but it's a steam turbine, losing two blades would cut power production by probably 30-60%. Same with trimming the ends, that too would open up a gap causing a loss of pressure, but it would have bought them time. And just how did it get that damaged in the first place, it was only exposed to steam. That much damage would have caused total failure in very, very short time, you aren't going to adjust the mount/balance bar with a wrench and fix it or even keep it running. Especially with the size of those blades, precision is absolutely crucial due to centrifugal force, any imbalance is greatly amplified.
I also have a hard time the creators didn't create some sort of diverter valve, though it's possible they wouldn't know it existed. And yeah, flash boiling was something they didn't account for.