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  • hey, i really do not see what the problem is with respect to waste. it always comes up in discussions about nuclear energy. it can be buried underground in concrete bunkers 1m thick! where it poses NO risk to ANYONE, or animals/plantlife/wildlife.

    most nuclear waste is low level - i.e. not very radioactive at all, like gloves etc. but some is very radioactive and very harmful. there are 3 main kinds of radiation - alpha beta and gamma, alpha and beta can both be stopped with aluminium foil, which makes them dangerous if you swallow them as the radiation is absorbed by your tissues. gamma is stopped with several feet of lead or several metres of concrete, and at high energies cause serious tissue damage.

    the problem is that high level waste needs to be cooled - you can't just dump it in a hole as it would catch fire - for a looong time, before you can just bury it and forget about it.

    it is not as simple as putting it in a hole - the hole is subject to geological movements which could damage the integrity of the structure for example. there is also the problem of moving it do the disposal site. and the problem that some countries may be less scrupulous in there disposal of radioactive waste - for example.

    nuclear waste disposal does look pretty though:

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