Final answer:
Nuclear waste remains highly radioactive for thousands of years, posing significant environmental and health risks. Proper disposal and long-term storage of radioactive waste, such as plutonium-239 and strontium-90, are complex challenges yet to be resolved, making the statement true.
Step-by-step explanation:
It is true that nuclear waste remains radioactive for thousands of years, posing a significant challenge in terms of disposal and long-term storage. Nuclear reactors produce high-level wastes like plutonium-239, with a half-life of 24,000 years, necessitating careful containment for centuries to minimize environmental and health risks. Radioactive waste is highly dangerous due to its potential to alter DNA, leading to serious health issues such as cancer and birth defects.
One of the long-lived byproducts of fission is strontium-90, with a half-life of 28.8 years, indicating that it requires storage for about 300 years to reach an acceptable level of radioactivity. Managing radioactive waste is complex, involving multifaceted problems such as selecting geologically stable storage sites, addressing political and societal concerns, and preventing possible contamination of soil, air, and water resources.
Currently, there is no permanent storage solution for high-level radioactive waste in the United States; thus, spent nuclear fuel is stored in temporary facilities. This issue is exacerbated by the fact that the nuclear fuel supply, predominantly uranium, has a finite availability, further complicating the future of nuclear energy.