Bruno Comby, President of Environmentalists for Nuclear: The subject of nuclear waste is often discussed in public debates on energy, and is used by some environmental groups to oppose nuclear energy. Such opposition is not backed by any solid scientific facts. This article proposes a new insight, from an environmental perspective, on the nuclear waste issue. Nuclear waste has undeniable environmental benefits: it is produced in relatively small amounts. It is not disposed of in the open and is almost totally confined. It is very easy to ensure protection from identified sources of radiation. Unlike with other highly toxic stable chemical and industrial waste matter, the toxicity of reprocessed radioactive waste decreases very rapidly in an exponential manner with time, returning to the natural level of radioactivity of the original ore after only 5000 years. Safe, simple and efficient solutions exist to make nuclear waste inert by vitrification and to isolate the waste from the biosphere until it is no longer toxic.
