A much more practical use of nuclear waste is to make traditional RTG. Nuclear waste could also be used for medical isotopes. There are lots of other interesting things in nuclear waste.
This talk from 2010 is really amazing at understanding what 'nuclear waste' actually is and what it will be.
It is. But fusion is much cooler and doesn't have the bad reputation that nuclear power does so funding is much easier to obtain for it.
Unfortunately society doesn't want safe nuclear, they want zero nuclear.
Massive blunder by humanity IMO and shameful that environmentalist parties that were founded to oppose nuclear continue to do so today for primarily historical/emotional reasons rather than hard facts.
This talk from 2010 is really amazing at understanding what 'nuclear waste' actually is and what it will be.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv-mFSoZOkE