6 of the Dumbest Things People Say About Nuclear Waste

1. “Nuclear waste is green goo that can leak into the ground and water supply.”

And your source is…The Simpson’s? Nuclear waste is actually called spent fuel, and it’s a solid. It looks like long metal straws all stacked neatly inside a steel and concrete cask that just sits there harming nothing and no one.

2. “We don’t know what to do with it.”

Actually, we know exactly what to do with it. The U.S. alone has safely stored nuclear waste for over 60 years. And some countries (like Finland) are already locking it away deep underground in permanent repositories built to last 100,000+ years.

3. “It stays dangerous forever.”

The most radioactive parts of nuclear waste decay rapidly. After about 300 years, the radiation drops by over 99%. If the waste is reprocessed (like France does), what’s left can be about as radioactive as natural uranium ore after a few centuries.

4. “There’s a lot of it.”

Compared to what, boo? All the nuclear waste ever produced in the U.S. could fit inside a Walmart. Compare that to fossil fuel waste aka carbon emissions, which is responsible for killing 4 million people every year.

5. “What if someone steals it and makes a bomb?”

You’re not gonna MacGyver a nuclear bomb out of spent fuel rods. Weaponizing civilian nuclear waste is… functionally impossible. It would require advanced enrichment tech, a physics PhD, and a total disregard for self-preservation.

6. “It’s not worth the risk.”

The actual risk is letting nuclear misinformation derail climate solutions. Nuclear electricity creates less waste than any other major energy source and produces zero air pollution. If we’re serious about getting off fossil fuels, nuclear is a necessity.