"It"?

Activities which proliferated nuclear waste during nuclear research activities in the ~1940s... became illegal in the 1980s?

I'm saying that we need retroactive prosecution. People are financially liable for polluting the planet. They knew they were working with toxic materials.

I'm saying: The individuals involved with the earliest nuclear tests should be prosecuted for spewing nuclear waste throughout the planet's air, water, and soil. Retroactively.

They are the responsible parties.

The US Military likewise should be heavily prosecuted for being the top global single-entity polluter

The problem is that the nations, corporations, and people who did the polluting are above the law.