>"Solved Problem" however isn't a thing I like to hear in this context. Solvable problem, sure, managable risk, yes. The guy is engaging in a bit of hyperbole.

>"Solved Problem" however isn't a thing I like to hear in this context. Solvable problem, sure, managable risk, yes. The guy is engaging in a bit of hyperbole. If you reduce the size of a problem by 90%, and the problem was not that bad to begin with, you are not exaggerating too much by saying "solved problem". First, how bad is the problem right now? A 1GW nuclear power plant produces 3 cubic meters of high level waste per year, while a similar coal power plant produces 300000 tons of ash per year (plus a lot of CO2)[1]. Now, for those 3 cubic meters, the radioactivity is reduced by 99.9% after 40 years [2] (without any reprocessing). If you add reprocessing, you can extract the very long half-life elements, especially Plutonium, and make use of them, by "burning" them in other nuclear reactors. Not everything can be disposed off, but the problem can be reduced by at least a factor of 10. [1] https://www.world-nuclear.org/nuclear-essentials/what-is-nuclear-waste-and-what-do-we-do-with-it.aspx https://www.world-nuclear.org/nuclear-essentials/what-is-nuc... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_reprocessing#Economics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_reprocessing#Economics