Hi SDF

As you're aware that waste isn't from fission itself, it's mostly materials that have had some exposure to radionuclides - very low level waste. And all the mine tailings are really disturbed earth that happens to have relatively high levels of uranium ore present - so just put it back where it came from.

But enriched uranium reactors are a limited commodity anyway because there's not enough U235 to last any great length of time. Breeders or accelerator driven reactors using thorium and U238 are the only sustainable option and the chief focus of current research in Indian and China, even if the US are too gutless to develop them properly. Then all the uranium will be worth extracting and as extraction improves the tailings won't be waste anymore.

That being said we could just cut out all the stupid mining business when fusors come online and build the things out to sea so they can sieve deuterium out of seawater - which will be cheap and easy with a bit of nanotech. And with a bit more nanotech perhaps they can make neutron-resistent walls so the structure doesn't need to be decomissioned every 30 years or so. I'm thinking some sort of smart polymer that comes away in sheets when its sustained too much damage and is replaced from behind like human skin or gut-linings. It could be hydrogen-rich so the neutrons just get deccelerated and absorbed. Most of the neutron energy ends up in the lithium jacket, but the reactor walls & field coils cop a real beating.

Adam