Radioactive Wasp Nest Found at South Carolina Nuclear Site

Workers at a facility in South Carolina, known for producing parts of nuclear bombs, stumbled upon a radioactive hornet nest. Officials assured that there’s no threat to anyone in the vicinity.

The discovery occurred on July 3 during routine radiation checks at the Savannah River Site, located near Aiken, where liquid nuclear waste is stored. According to a report from the US Department of Energy, the nest was found near a tank containing that waste.

The radiation levels of the nest were reported to be ten times higher than what’s allowed under federal guidelines.

In response, workers treated the nest with insecticide, removed it, and disposed of it properly as radioactive waste. Interestingly, no wasps were found in the process.

The site is deemed secure, with no leaks detected from the waste tanks. The nest’s radioactivity seems to stem from “on-site legacy radioactive contamination,” leftovers from earlier operations when the site was fully functional.

However, a watchdog group called Savannah River Site Watch expressed concerns, calling the report incomplete. They raised questions about the source of the contamination and the possibility of other radioactive nests arising from leaks.

Tom Clements, the group’s executive director, noted the significance of the type of nest that was found. Some hornets use soil to build their nests, which could offer clues regarding the origin of the contamination. He expressed frustration, stating, “I’m as angry as the hornet for SRS for not explaining where the radioactive waste came from or if there’s any leakage that the public should be aware of.”

According to the Savannah River Mission, which manages the site, the tank farm is contained within the facility, and hornets usually fly within a short distance from their nests. Thus, no external danger is posed. Should hornets be spotted, they’d likely have much lower radiation levels than the nest itself.

Originally opened in the early 1950s to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons during the Cold War, the Savannah River Site is currently transitioning toward building and cleaning up nuclear power plants.

The site previously managed 165 million gallons of liquid nuclear waste, which has since been reduced to about 34 million gallons due to evaporation, based on information from Savannah River Mission. Although some operations have ceased, 43 underground tanks are still in use.