Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts announced last week that they would begin packing it’s spent fuel in super tough concrete and steel containers called casks. Previously, all of the nuclear reactor fuel rods were submerged in a deep pool of water, which has now run out of space.
Cask storage is used in 50 other nuclear plants around the country and are designed to temporarily hold excess waste until the government selects a disposal site. Nevada’s Yucca Mountain was designated to receive the waste for permanent storage but federal funding for the site ended in 2011.