Radioactive Wastes

Nuclear power was originally welcomed as a clean, non-polluting way of generating electricity. Over time, however, two serious problems associated with it became clear: the risk of accidental leakage of radioactive material — as happened in the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl incidents — and the challenge of safely disposing of radioactive waste on an ongoing basis.

Radiation released by nuclear waste is extremely damaging to living organisms because it causes mutations at an unusually high rate. At high doses radiation is directly lethal; at lower doses it produces a range of disorders, the most common of which is cancer. This makes nuclear waste an especially potent pollutant that must be handled with the utmost caution at every stage. …