Instead, spent fuel rods in the U.S. are currently stored in underground pools of water or in dry-cask storage, where older fuel is put into steel cans filled with inert gas and then stored in silos.

He ushered me through the back door, past neat stacks of hand-split applewood, to a wooden tank, like a giant wine cask cut in half, covered in moss and dripping water through its swollen slats.

Later they put on the clown costumes and took up stage properties like plastic cask, life ring and mops, and dived into water with hilarious moves.