Why can’t we dump nuclear waste in the same place we mine nuclear fuel?
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Why can’t we have scientists discover a way to reuse it?
A lot of nuclear waste is potentially more dangerous than straight ore as it’s the waste from refining. This means that it can be dissolved in water more easily (though still also be radioactive)
Functionally, there’s no real problem with preparing a depleted mine to store waste, this is often done in other mining operations. However, the politics of it are very complex and generally it’s very unlikely for congress to improve anything given how much money they receive from adversarial lobbyist organizations.
The fuel we mine is mixed in with a ton of rocks, versus the waste which is more concentrated. (Probably not ELI5, but I tried)
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