[KitemanSA]

The answer, when compared to typical light water reactors is... A hell of a lot less. First, since Thorium is a byproduct of Rare Earth Element mining and Uranium is mined specifically, there is all the mining waste that is saved. Second, since Thorium is used up ~completely and Uranium is used only about 0.5%, you need about 200 times more raw Uranium metal than Thorium meaning even MORE mining waste. Third, all the extra metal is RadioActive Waste. Fourth, in making the solid fuel elements, various reactants etc. become even more RAW. Fifth, the pellets are clad, then assembled into bundles using metal that gets irradiated and becomes ever more RAW. Sixth, the vast majority of the fuel pellet is U238 which gets irradiated and some becomes transUranic elements, significantly more than in a LFTR. only then do the two become ALMOST equivalent in the amount of fission products made, though even there the LFTR can be substantially more efficient at turning heat into electricity, so less fuel needs to be converted.

Oh, and most fission products decay to stability in hours, some take years, a few take a few hundred years and the rest are transmutable. It is the TRUs that represent the big storage problem. But guess what, LFTRs can burn them up too.

Not only do LFTRs not generate significant amounts of "wastes" but they can burn the problem waste from PWRs. How cool is that?!!!