Studies have considered the possible impacts on the environment of radioactive waste over geological timescales, including:
- Seismic events and their effect on repository integrity
- Ice ages and glacial erosion potentially disturbing waste
- Groundwater migration leaching radionuclides from degraded containment
- Deliberate or accidental human intrusion (extremely difficult to predict over long timescales)
Key Point: The scientific uncertainties concerning long-term storage have been mirrored by a high degree of public concern. Finding acceptable repository sites is a very considerable political challenge, especially for nations without large expanses of sparsely inhabited land.