Krypton-85 and other gaseous wastes are released from these plants. At Sellafield 500 kilograms of plutonium and 40 other radionuclides, have been released into the Irish Sea. Fish caught in the local waters are radioactive. Sellafield's plutonium is found in the far-away Arctic ice. People in the region have thousands of times more plutonium in their body than other people.
Childhood cancers are six times higher than the national average.
Plutonium is uneconomic as a fuel. As a way of disposing of reactor waste reprocessing creates greater environmental problems than storing spent-fuel directly. The real incentive of several nations is undoubtedly to hold stocks of plutonium ready to use in nuclear weapons. The operation of the nuclear fuel cycle is carried out in many facilities scattered around the world. This means that dangerous radioactive materials are being carried over land and sea in trucks and ships.