text: The long half-life of technetium-99 and its ability to form an anionic species make it (along with I) a major concern when considering long-term disposal of high-level radioactive waste. Many of the processes designed to remove fission products from medium-active process streams in reprocessing plants are designed to remove cationic species like caesium (e.g., Cs, Cs) and strontium (e.g., Sr). Hence the pertechnetate escapes through these treatment processes. Current disposal options favor burial in geologically stable rock. The primary danger with such a course is that the waste is likely to come into contact with water, which could leach radioactive contamination into the environment. The natural cation-exchange capacity of soils tends to immobilize plutonium, uranium, and caesium cations. However, the anion-exchange capacity is usually much smaller, so minerals are less likely to adsorb the pertechnetate and iodide anions, leaving them mobile in the soil. For this reason, the environmental chemistry of technetium is an active area of research.