WHERE DOES ALL THIS RADIOACTIVE WASTE COME FROM?
Radioactive waste, or high-level waste, exists in two forms: leftover fuel from nuclear power plants and waste from nuclear weapons production or fuel reprocessing facilities. This type of waste remains dangerously radioactive for thousands of years. Requires disposal. Several countries, such as Finland, Switzerland, and other European nations, plan to establish repositories for nuclear waste. In the United States, there have been proposals to store the nation’s waste in a repository beneath Yucca Mountain in Nevada; however, the site approval has fluctuated with leadership changes. Currently, most nuclear waste continues to accumulate at its source. Power plants and processing facilities. With some remaining in storage since the 1940s.