Storage OK, but nuclear waste is a valuable resource, so it needs to be recoverable.

First, some perspective. There are 400,000 tons of “nuclear waste” globally, all is accounted for and contained and no one has been killed or injured by it. Compare this to coal waste, which is more toxic, is not contained or accounted for, its pollution has caused millions of premature deaths all over the world and produces 400,000 tons of waste globally every 30 minutes. Here is a list of just some substances, materials, etc. more toxic thank nuclear waste: asbestos, lead, mercury, arsenic, salmonella, botulism, botox, benzene, poly-aromatic hydrocarbons, nickel, cadmium, mycotoxins, chrysene, anthracene, phenanthrene, carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, aliphatics, hydrogen peroxide and of course, coal waste. We need to listen to the scientists and experts, for example Dr. James Conca states that nuclear waste has been transported millions of miles, they work very hard to ensure safety. Watch on youtube James Conca | Nuclear Waste (https://youtu.be/0JfJEK3R1k0). Also, search Shelly Mobbs, the Society of Radiological Protection (UK) honorary fellow and then check out her webinar on April 16, 2026 (https://srp-uk.org/event/435/new-clearance-and-exemption-guidance). Search on the Internet "600 year old spent nuclear fuel is just another poison (https://jackdevanney.substack.com/p/600-year-old-spent-nuclear-fuel-is-e55)".

Some organizations advocate for processing “nuclear waste” for various other purposes. The Nuclear Energy Agency of the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) published a report in January, 2025 “Unlocking the Hidden Value of Nuclear Fuel: The Societal Benefits of Diverse Material Recycling (https://www.oecd-nea.org/jcms/pl_99853/unlocking-the-hidden-value-of-nuclear-fuel-the-societal-benefits-of-diverse-material-recycling)”. 

Others prefer to focus on “nuclear waste” exclusively to fuel fast nuclear reactors. Steve Curtis of U2 Energy (https://u2energy.com/) (who refer to “nuclear waste” as “slightly used nuclear fuel” SUNF) claims “We’re (the USA) Sitting on $100 Trillion ($500 Trillion globally) and Want to Pay $400 Billion to Throw It Away (https://www.sirotinintelligence.com/were-sitting-on-100-trillion-and-want-to-pay-400-billion-to-throw-it-away-steven-curtis-on-americas-nuclear-waste-delusion-why-the-nrc-should-be-shut-down-and-how-texas-could-lead-the-f/)” Erlend Hagen wrote the following post in September, 2025 for the International Journal for Nuclear Power “Revival of the Closed-Loop Nuclear power system – A Roadmap for a net-zero grid (https://erlendhagen.substack.com/p/revival-of-the-closed-loop-nuclear)”. Most nuclear reactors use only the uranium-235 atoms for fuel, the rest is “waste”.

The USA had a fast breeder reactor running for thirty years at Idaho National Labs, which provided power to the facility for all that time. It was the EBR II (Enhanced Breeder Reactor). The program was cancelled in the early nineties by Bill Clinton and John Kerry, just before they were ready to commercialize it. See an eight minute segment (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sp1Xja6HlIU) about the EBR II from the 2013 Robert Stone documentary film “Pandora’s Promise”, which made its debut on CNN (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBL2AwNRaHE).

There are several companies working on new fast nuclear reactors (https://erlendhagen.substack.com/p/revival-of-the-closed-loop-nuclear) and are planning to be commercialized by the early 2030’s, including the USA company Oklo, who have additional plans. “Oklo Announces Fuel Recycling Facility as First Phase of up to $1.68 Billion Advanced Fuel Center in Tennessee (https://oklo.com/newsroom/news-details/2025/Oklo-Announces-Fuel-Recycling-Facility-as-First-Phase-of-up-to-1-68-Billion-Advanced-Fuel-Center-in-Tennessee/default.aspx)”. Organizations that advocate this recycling as fuel for fast reactors are the OECD’s Nuclear Energy Agency (they released a report in October, 2025 entitled “Recycling: A key enabler for sustainable nuclear fuel cycles (https://www.oecd-nea.org/jcms/pl_111483/recycling-a-key-enabler-for-sustainable-nuclear-fuel-cycles)”), the Nuclear Innovation Alliance (they released a report in October, 2025 entitled “Recycling Reconsidered: Unlocking the Value of Spent Nuclear Fuel (https://nuclearinnovationalliance.org/recycling-reconsidered-unlocking-value-spent-nuclear-fuel)”) and WePlanet (they released a report in April, 2023 entitled “What a Waste! (https://www.weplanet.org/whatawaste)”)

“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more so that we may fear less.” - Marie Curie, who discovered radiation over 100 years ago