All nuclear waste ever produced could be safely stored in less than a square mile (Plus a radius around that to prevent idiots tampering with it). The safety issues of it are greatly over exaggerated most of the time. The problem with that, is that storing nuclear waste safely is relatively (though not extremely) expensive.
Technically yes, but practically no for the first question. Properly stored nuclear waste has very minimal radiation leakage.
As for the second, it’s complicated. The actual amount of radioactive waste is less than 10,000 cubic meters. There’s quite a bit more than that of just water that has become toxic due to radiation, but the storage requirements of that are much lower. Here’s a rough infographic: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/visualizing-all-the-nuclear-waste-in-the-world/
Also, while The low level waste would still fit in a single square mile if you were restricted to that, using natural caves is a lot cheaper and easier than building tanks, so it’s not exactly a realistic solution.
All nuclear waste ever produced could be safely stored in less than a square mile (Plus a radius around that to prevent idiots tampering with it). The safety issues of it are greatly over exaggerated most of the time. The problem with that, is that storing nuclear waste safely is relatively (though not extremely) expensive.
Doesn’t increasing the concentration of nuclear waste make it’s effects much more dangerous?
And sorry to pick for more info, but what’s the volume of waste in that one square mile?
Technically yes, but practically no for the first question. Properly stored nuclear waste has very minimal radiation leakage.
As for the second, it’s complicated. The actual amount of radioactive waste is less than 10,000 cubic meters. There’s quite a bit more than that of just water that has become toxic due to radiation, but the storage requirements of that are much lower. Here’s a rough infographic: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/visualizing-all-the-nuclear-waste-in-the-world/
Also, while The low level waste would still fit in a single square mile if you were restricted to that, using natural caves is a lot cheaper and easier than building tanks, so it’s not exactly a realistic solution.
Thanks for the detailed reply.
So basically it’s as safe as you trust the fail rate to be. Which isn’t super risky, provided you can trust your construction.