There are currently no safe options for storing nuclear waste

Currently, the U.S. has very few long-term storage solutions for nuclear waste. This is problematic, because while the government tries to get a long-term solution in place, the nuclear waste sits in short-term storage facilities at the nuclear power plant where the waste was produced. Some nuclear waste has been sitting in these interim storage facilities on-site since the 1940's.^[1] Nuclear waste doesn't just become safe overnight, either. It remains dangerously radioactive for thousands of years. Without long-term solutions that take this waste off-site and far away from the nuclear power plants, nuclear plants will continue to accumulate this waste, until something inevitably goes wrong. At the decommissioned Hanford Nuclear site alone, about 60 of the 180 interim storage tanks are known to be leaking radioactive waste. Even well-established practices like vitrification of nuclear waste-- turning nuclear waste into glass-- has it's own problems. After the waste is turned into molten glass, it solidifies in a steel canister and is sealed. The glass essentially "locks" the nuclear components in place. However, after about 1000 years, the canister is predicted to corrode, leaving the glass exposed. If water interacts with the glass, there is a risk that it could release the radioactive elements that were locked inside.^[2] Until the U.S. has a reliable, long-term solution for storing nuclear waste, nuclear energy cannot be considered safe.

[P1] Nuclear waste is harmful to people if stored improperly. [P2] Reactors produce nuclear waste without a long-term storage solution. [P3] Reactors are unsafe.