There is a strong worldwide consensus that disposal in a geologic repository is the only feasible, permanent solution to the high-level waste problem. The concept seems simple and comes to mind almost instinctively – bury the waste in a hole excavated in rocks deep underground. Burial in deep geological formations provides more than adequate shielding from the waste's radiation and decreases the likelihood of inadvertent or malicious intrusion by humans. Yet, this international consensus favoring geologic burial is the product of decades of brainstorming. No matter how outlandish or seemingly impossible, one by one, each conceivable solution was given its turn at the table.

In these early discussions, one idea stood apart from the rest. In April 1951, Representative Albert Gore, Sr. (D-TN), father of Nobel Peace Prize winning Al Gore, suggested using radioactive waste from the Nation’s plutonium production to “dehumanize” a belt across the entire 38th parallel of the Korean peninsula. The contamination would prevent further attacks by Communist forces invading from the North. Yet, the most important result would be “its psychological effect as a mystery weapon, analogous to the initial use of poison gas and of tanks in World War I.” Representative Gore argued that such widespread use of radioactive waste was morally justified as a deterrent, rather than an attack strategy. The enemy would be duly forewarned. Gore had in mind relatively short-lived isotopes. He added that the belt would need to be replenished periodically with new wastes, until a “satisfactory solution to the whole Korean problem” was reached.