Seabrook Is Nation's First Reactor Refueled During Virus Crisis

New Hampshire's Seabrook nuclear plant, the largest of three commercial reactors in the region, powered down to zero yesterday. It was the start of a scheduled, month-long refueling process involving about 1,000 additional temporary workers.

During refueling, workers remove about a third of the plant's radioactive fuel rods. They are replaced with fresh fuel, and the spent rods are submerged in a deep pool of water, where they cool down over a few years.