The myth
"Radioactive waste remains dangerous for hundreds of thousands of years. Geological disposal is unproven. We are burdening future generations with an unsolvable problem."
This argument has been used for fifty years to block nuclear energy. It sounds frightening. It is also largely untrue.
The facts
How much waste is it, really?
An average Dutch person running entirely on nuclear energy for their entire life (81.9 years) produces approximately one litre of high-level radioactive waste. The contents of a milk carton. For an entire lifetime.
Consider the comparison:
| Waste stream | Volume per person per year |
|---|---|
| Household waste | 600 kg |
| Total waste (incl. industry) | 4,600 kg |
| High-level radioactive waste | ~12 grams |
The total amount of high-level radioactive waste produced by all nuclear power plants worldwide in 70 years fits inside a building the size of a football pitch, 3 metres high. That is all. For 70 years of electricity for hundreds of millions of people.
96% is reusable
Of spent fuel, 96% is reusable uranium and plutonium. Only 4% consists of fission products — the actual "waste." France has been reprocessing its spent fuel for decades at the La Hague facility. With fast reactors — reactors that do not moderate neutrons and can therefore also fission heavier elements — the vast majority of the remaining material can still serve as fuel. Russia has been operating the BN-800, a commercial-scale fast reactor, since 2015.
"Disposing of nuclear waste" is like throwing away a battery that is still 96% full.
Geological disposal IS proven
Opponents claim that we "don't know" whether geological disposal works. Nature has already proven it for us.
Oklo, Gabon: Two billion years ago, natural nuclear reactors were active at Oklo — for approximately 150,000 years. The fission products that were created have barely migrated since. Technetium-99 retention: 60-85% (Hidaka et al., 2021). In two billion years. Without engineered barriers. Without human intervention.
Onkalo, Finland: The world's first deep geological repository for final disposal. In August 2024, trial placements with dummy fuel rods were successfully carried out at 400 metres depth in 1.8-billion-year-old granite. IAEA Director Grossi called it a "game changer." The operating licence is expected in 2026.
Cigeo, France: The safety analysis shows a peak dose of 0.0008 millisieverts per year after approximately 500,000 years. That is 3,000 times lower than the natural background radiation everyone receives daily (ANDRA, 2022).
The ice age argument is pseudoscience
Some opponents suggest that in 100,000 years computer systems will have failed and the location of the repository will be forgotten. This argument:
- Ignores that disposal takes place at 400-500 metres depth, well below any ice age disturbance
- Ignores that Finnish granite formations have been stable for 1.8 billion years
- Is irrelevant: after 300-500 years, the radioactivity of the waste is no higher than that of the original uranium ore
What nobody tells you about renewable energy waste
Remarkably, the same organisations that worry about nuclear waste devote not a word to:
| Waste problem | Details |
|---|---|
| Wind turbine blades | 78% goes to landfill. Not recyclable. Remains there for ever. |
| Solar panels | Contain cadmium, lead, selenium. Recycling rate: 10-12%. Chemical waste never decays. |
| Rare earths | The toxic tailings lake at Baotou (China) covers 10-12 km2. Both radioactive and chemically contaminated. |
| Batteries | Lithium extraction consumes 2 million litres of water per tonne. Cobalt mining in Congo: child labour. |
Chemical waste has no half-life. Lead remains lead. Cadmium remains cadmium. For ever. Radioactive waste decays by definition — it becomes less dangerous over time, not more.
Conclusion
Nuclear waste is a technically solved problem that is presented as unsolvable for political reasons. The quantities are microscopically small, 96% is reusable, nature proved two billion years ago that geological disposal works, and Finland is currently building the first final repository. Meanwhile, renewable energy produces waste streams that are many times larger, do not decay, and for which no solution exists whatsoever.
Sources
- Posiva Oy, Trial Run ensures safety of final disposal (2024) (link)
- Hidaka, H. et al. (2021), "Migration behavior of fission products at the Oklo natural reactors," Scientific Reports (link)
- ANDRA (2022), Cigeo safety case — long-term performance assessment (link)
- IAEA, statement by Director General Grossi at Onkalo visit (2024) (link)
- Our World in Data, "Nuclear waste volumes in perspective" (link)
- Liu, P. & Barlow, C.Y. (2017), "Wind turbine blade waste in 2050," Waste Management (link)
- IEA-PVPS (2022), End-of-Life Management of Photovoltaic Panels (link)
