Nuclear waste is produced from industrial, medical and scientific processes that use radioactive material. Nuclear waste can have detrimental effects on marine habitats. Nuclear waste comes from a number of sources:
- Operations conducted by nuclear power stations produce radioactive waste. Nuclear-fuel reprocessing plants in northern Europe are the biggest sources of man-made nuclear waste in the surrounding ocean. Radioactive traces from these plants have been found as far away as Greenland.
- Mining and refining of uranium and thorium are also causes of marine nuclear waste.
- Waste is also produced in the nuclear fuel cycle which is used in many industrial, medical and scientific processes.
