Yeah, it is a shame that the left has demonized atomic power and it’s related subjects by using mushroom clouds. It is bad science, for an atomic explosion to happen, you need for U-235 or Pu-239 (and some other isotopes) to be able to achieve critical or super-critical mass. Fuel for reactors are not designed to achieve that and I know the waste isn’t either.
You're right. Reactor "fuel" has too low of a percentage of fissile material to go critical under any imaginable amount of compression - even explosive compression initiated by a chemical explosive. That's why they enrich fissile material to higher grades for bombs. Not to mention the fact that by definition, "spent" nuclear fuel is even lower quality - having spent most of it's power, well, producing power.