> And it's not clear to me how nuclear waste can both be extremely long-lived and also very dangerous that entire time. This is a really good question, and as

> And it's not clear to me how nuclear waste can both be extremely long-lived and also very dangerous that entire time. This is a really good question, and as someone who knows nothing about this, here's what I've found: There's 4 kinds of nuclear waste: - Very low-level waste - Low-level waste - Intermediate-level waste - High-level waste You just dump very low-level waste into a landfill[1]. This stuff is basically random concrete, etc. that comes from demolishing a nuclear power plant. Low-level waste is still pretty boring stuff like clothing and rags that got irradiated somehow, and is 90% of the volume and 1% the radioactivity of radioactive waste[1]. The radioactivity in this mostly comes from atoms with a half-life of less than 5 years, although it seems like trace amounts of slightly long-lasting radioactive isotopes are allowed[2]. Intermediate-level waste looks like it's pretty varied things: sludges, fuel cladding, reactor parts from decomissioning. It's 7% of the volume and has 4% of the radioactivity[1]. Looks like this stuff is generally pretty long-lived: takes about 1000 years to become 10x as radioactive as low-level waste, and 100k years to become as radioactive as low-level waste. High-level waste is basically spent fuel. It's special in that it requires some kind of cooling, at least for a few decades. It's 3% of the volume and 95% of radioactivity[1]. It can often be re-processed into more fuel. After about 200 years, it becomes about as radioactive as intermediate-level waste, and 100k years to become as radioactive as low-level waste. [1]: https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-cycle/nuclear-wastes/radioactive-waste-management.aspx https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/nuclear-fuel-c... [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-level_waste https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-level_waste [3]: https://www.radioactivity.eu.com/site/pages/ML_LLW.htm https://www.radioactivity.eu.com/site/pages/ML_LLW.htm [4]: https://www.radioactivity.eu.com/site/pages/HLW_Waste.htm https://www.radioactivity.eu.com/site/pages/HLW_Waste.htm