One of the biggest problems facing the nuclear industry is what to do with the radioactive waste that is left over after operating a nuclear reactor.

After the fuel rods have finished their life inside a power station they become high level waste. In some countries such as Sweden and the United States, the spent fuel rods are stored in the form which they come out of the reactor. In other countries like Britain, France and Japan, they are sent for reprocessing. Reprocessing not only makes this high level waste more difficult to handle, it also creates much larger volumes of all types of waste.

The nuclear industry has had almost 50 years to find a solution to the nuclear waste problem and has failed to do so.