- All nuclear activities generate radioactive waste
- Radioactive wastes last a very long time and pose unique management difficulties 
- No nation on Earth has a final disposal place for high level radioactive waste
- There is no “safe” level of exposure to ionizing radiation 

Like all industrial activities nuclear operations generate waste. Radioactive wastes can be solids, liquids or gases and they pose unique and fundamental management challenges and human and environmental risks. These wastes are produced at every stage of the nuclear fuel cycle, from uranium mining and enrichment to reactor operation and the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. Much of this material remains hazardous for many thousands of years.  

The nuclear industry began before there were clear plans on how to best handle these long-lived wastes and six decades later not much has changed. There are no high level radioactive waste disposal facilities operating anywhere around the globe, waste stockpiles continue to grow and there is no proven and assured way to isolate radioactive waste from people and the environment for the time needed before it stops being a threat.

The nuclear industry’s inability to openly, and effectively deal with the waste it creates and to instead impose this legacy on future generations is both a deep concern and a powerful constraint on future industry growth.

“And as these tailings are left on the surface of the Earth, they are blown by the wind, they are washed by the rain into the water systems, and they inevitably spread. Once the mining companies close down, who is going to look after this material forever?” 
- Dr Gordon Edwards, Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility.