Whenever I talk to people about the benefits of nuclear power, how dependable, how efficient,

how clean it is, I'm always challenged with this.

Yeah, but what about the waste?

Their question is hardly surprising.

The New York Times claims that the U.S. is a wash in radioactive waste.

The Los Angeles Times writes that figuring out where and how to safely store radioactive

waste is one of the biggest obstacles to nuclear power.

And wired magazine warns that even our next generation reactors may still have a big nuclear

waste problem, and so it goes.

Even though the greenest of greens will admit that nuclear power is a clean source of abundant

reliable energy, many stop short of supporting it.

The nuclear waste problem ends discussion before it begins.

After all, why develop this great source of energy if it's going to poison our air and

water with deadly radioactivity?

There's only one problem with this well-worn disaster scenario.

It's not true.

The nuclear waste problem is a myth.

How so?

Let's start with what nuclear waste actually is, or to be more precise, what it isn't.

It's not a green goo oozing out of rusted barrels like you see on the Simpsons.

It's literally a cartoon.

The real radioactive stuff, usually uranium-235, comes in hard ceramic pellets.

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