I guess that could be a temporary solution to the radioactivity, but as the article notes the margins are tight and these are cowboy operations so there's every incentive to cut corners and no regulator to check everything has been done by the books, so people & ecosystems will be forced to pay the price.

re: chemicals escaping into water, yes I remember being reassured by members of the Environment Agency (no less) that there was no threat of ground water pollution because water takes hundreds of years to percolate through rock strata. However they didn't seem to take into account the fracturing of rock which could potentially lead to new pathways being opened up, potentially under pressure, which could lead to pollutants finding their way to the surface, or into aquifers much quicker.

The principle in environmentalism is that there is no such place as 'away' - once these toxins have been created or liberated from their safe burial in Earth's crust, they're always going to be creating problems for someone, even if it doesn't immediately affect our closest interests. First do no harm etc.

cheers,
I