"Waste" ain't waste
...it's unburnt fuel mostly and that's the cruddy compromise we've had to live with, while fast-reactors and the like have struggled for research funds. Hopefully uranium-poor countries will do amazing things with thorium and get the uranium-rich countries to pick-up their game.
Historically the focus has been on U235 enrichment technologies because of its use in bombs. That has to change if uranium is to be a sustainable and acceptable fuel.