The problem of nuclear waste started in the year 1945 when the first atom bomb was used, at this time nobody was interesed in the question where should be stored the nuclear waste. But now the disposal of radioactive nuclear waste is a major problem of inustrialized contries today. With hundreds of nuclear power plants, nuclear reactors and nuclear laboratories in America, Europe, and Japan, thousands of tons of radioactive waste needs to be safely disposed almost everyday. The United States of America has 113 nuclear power reactors and is planned to build more of them. Besides the 113 nuclear power plants, there are hundreds of nuclear research reactors with defence establishments, universities, and missile and nuclear weapon industry. So far the nuclear waste has been dumped into the sea or into third world countries or is being kept in bulk storage for disposal. This has threatened marine life as well as humans and neighbouring communtities. Astonishingly one of the largest seas dumb was the Gulf of Ferallones till some years back. The Farallon waste site is a triangle shaped piece of sea space at the distance of 30 miles west of San Francisco. This site includes some of the most fertile commercial fishing waters in the Pacific. US officials have acknowledged tht this site contains some 47,500 barrels of low level radiation waste; half life of this waste is 24000 years. The routine is that radioactive material in conainers and barrels is collected on the barges. The barges and thug leave for the sea after they are full.
Scientific studies have shown that radioactive material dumped into the sea can enter marine foot chain through bottom dwellers. Fish feeding on radiactive organism can be dangerous to humans who eat such contaminated fish. Increasing incidence of cancer and other radiation linked diseases are reported now. The exact amount of nuclear waste that requires dumping nationwise has not been made public. Russians used and use to dump their nuclear waste into sea, but now they try to reprocess the used nuclear waste and made from it nuclear fuel. And Russia will allow accepting higly radioactive toxic spent nuclear fuel from fourteen contries in Europe and Asia. This will be the second big nuclear reprocessing plant; the first plant is Mayak in the Urals, where large quantities of nuclear waste are stored.