def shutdown():
return _SHUTDOWN<EOL>
Return the processing element (PE) shutdown event.

    The event is set when the PE is being shutdown.
    Can be used in source iterators that need to block by sleeping::

        # Sleep for 60 seconds unless the PE is being shutdown
        if streamsx.ec.shutdown.wait(60.0):
            return None

    Code must not call ``set()`` on the returned event.

    Returns:
        threading.Event: Event object representing PE shutdown.

    .. versionadded:: 1.11