With nuclear energy getting fresh attention in the US, the waste problem can no longer be pushed aside. Political support has widened, and tech companies looking for reliable power to feed large data centers have added even more momentum. If nuclear is going to grow, the sector needs a real plan for what happens to the fuel after it has been used.
In the US, nuclear reactors produce about 2,000 metric tons of high-level waste every year. There is still no permanent place to put it.
Nuclear power is often treated like a new debate, but the US has been running reactors for decades. It has more reactors and more nuclear production capacity than any other country. Even so, nearly 70 years after the first permanent nuclear facility in the country began operating, there is still no long-term disposal solution for spent fuel.
Most used fuel is stored at reactor sites, both active and shut down, in water pools and in steel-and-concrete casks. These systems are considered safe for now, but they are not meant to last forever.
The leading long-term approach is deep geological storage. The idea is simple: place radioactive waste deep underground, seal it in stable rock, and close it off with concrete and other barriers. These repositories are designed to hold waste permanently, hundreds of meters below the surface.
No country has a fully operating repository for spent fuel yet, but some are much closer than others. Finland is the furthest along. In 2026, the country is testing its facility, with final approvals expected soon and operations potentially starting later this year. Other countries are also moving forward, though at a slower pace.
France has more than 50 nuclear reactors and gets a larger share of its electricity from nuclear power than any other country. It also has the most established spent-fuel reprocessing program in the world. That process separates uranium and plutonium to make mixed oxide, or MOX, fuel. But reprocessing does not eliminate waste, so leftover material still needs permanent storage. For now, France keeps waste at the La Hague reprocessing plant, while planning for a repository. Early approvals could come later this decade, and pilot operations may begin by 2035.
The US technically has a designated long-term site for spent fuel: Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Congress selected the federal land site in 1987, but the project has been frozen for years because of political opposition. Federal funding ended in 2011, and there has been almost no progress since then.
Meanwhile, more waste keeps coming.
Globally, nuclear energy is entering another growth phase. China has the fastest-growing nuclear program in the world, while countries such as Bangladesh and Turkey are building their first reactors.
The US is seeing renewed momentum as well. Interest in nuclear power has risen, and major tech companies are investing in new capacity to meet rising electricity demand. Companies are proposing, and in some cases getting approval for, next-generation reactors that use new coolants, fuels, and designs.
That makes waste planning even more urgent. New reactor types will likely create new waste streams, and the industry needs storage infrastructure that can keep up. Nuclear companies, along with the large customers driving this expansion, should be pushing for progress on geological repositories now.
As the world’s richest country and a major center for advanced reactor development, the US should be helping lead on this issue rather than falling behind. Even a small share of the money and attention now flowing into nuclear power could accelerate progress on waste disposal.
Some experts say the US needs a new organization to manage nuclear waste instead of leaving the job to the Department of Energy. That kind of setup would resemble programs already used in Finland, Canada, and France.
Building a permanent waste solution takes a long time. Finland began planning in the 1980s, chose its site in the early 2000s, and is now close to taking waste. For countries without a permanent storage plan, the best time to start was decades ago. The next best time is now.
