Two tonnes of Australian radioactive waste, which was sent to the United Kingdom (UK) for recycling in 1996, has returned home after being extracted from uranium and contained in a safe storage vessel. Police, security authorities, and the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organization (ANSTO)—a federal agency that maintains nuclear safety—successfully retrieved recycled nuclear waste from Sydney on March 13. The UK returned the nuclear waste to Australia vitrified—broken down and solidified in molten glass, then contained in steel canisters—to stabilize and encase the radioactive substances within. The canisters were stored and transported in a 98 tonne TN-81 storage container — a container made from fortified steel with 20cm thick walls—to block any emitted radiation. These protective measures mean that a person standing 10 meters from the container for an hour would receive the same radiation dose as they would from eating half of a banana. Seventy-five to eighty percent …