Workers simulated the shutdown on Tuesday of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, just days before the plant will stop producing energy after 47 years of operation. Workers at the plant are eyeing the shutdown with mixed emotions. Holtec has designed a cask it says can accept spent fuel after only two years of cooling. Spent fuel rods that can no longer sustain a nuclear reaction remain radioactive and still generate substantial heat. Since the plant began operation, more than 4,000 spent fuel assemblies, each containing many individual rods, have been generated.

Source: ABC News May 28, 2019 20:45 UTC