While an interesting thought experiment, I always found the idea that a society would:
be obliterated
come back
find the nuclear waste
have the capacity to extract it
NOT have the capacity to understand it
AND still find the radioactive material is meaningfully dangerous (the higher radiation, the shorter the half life)
is incredibly slim. Put a skull on it and bury it all in the same place imo. IDK how you're going to get a more objective indicator of DEATH HERE than a skull.
@SirTapTap I can't help but think of all the "atomic" snake oil of the 50s where random products would have small amounts of radioactive crap added to them for vague benefits
Also mundane uses like hand warmers (alpha decay) glowing stuff etc
It would take folks a while to figure out "hey, these weird warm glowing rocks/metals will fucking kill you" if they're not sufficiently "hot" radiologically. Cancer is a sneaky bastid