Upvoted for the common sense.

I've spent my life listening to people talk about scary scenarios of uninhabitable wastelands full of radioactive waste.

I don't know if the misunderstanding comes from intentional propaganda from the anti-nuclear folk, or a misunderstanding of what 'half life' means.

Either way, I routinely used to ask people : if nuclear bombs make a place uninhabitable, how come Mazdas are still made in Hiroshima?