radioactive waste

American  

noun

1. the radioactive by-products from the operation of a nuclear reactor or from the reprocessing of depleted nuclear fuel.

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radioactive waste British  

noun

1. Also called: nuclear waste.  any waste material containing radionuclides

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radioactive waste Cultural  

1. Radioactive materials that may be left after a commercial or laboratory process has been carried out. Some is “low-level” waste, such as objects that have touched the radioactive tracers used in certain medical tests. Other waste may be “high-level,” such as the material left in a nuclear reactor after the fuel has been consumed.

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There has been public debate over the safest means of storing the waste, which can remain dangerously radioactive for up to hundreds of thousands of years. Present practice calls for encasing the waste in metal, concrete, and ceramic containers and burying the containers deep underground in geologically stable locations.

Etymology

Origin of radioactive waste

First recorded in 1945–50

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

radioactive waste

While conventional nuclear plants split heavy atoms in a process called fission, fusion does the opposite: It combines light atomic nuclei into heavier ones, releasing enormous energy without greenhouse-gas emissions or long-lived radioactive waste.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026

And in Algeria, the precise sites where France buried radioactive waste after its tests there remain undisclosed, the report said.

From Barron's ● Jan. 22, 2026

They’re managing this thing, selling holdings that look shaky before they turn into radioactive waste.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 7, 2025

To address concerns about the safety of nuclear power and radioactive waste, Oregon lawmakers created the Nuclear and Thermal Energy Council.

From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2025

The government has yet to find a place to permanently store the soil it has scraped from the towns of Fukushima and until they do, the radioactive waste will continue to be a hazard.

From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland