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Aiken, S.C. – A radioactive wasp nest has been discovered at the Savannah River Site, a former nuclear weapons production facility. While the nest showed radiation levels ten times the federally permitted limit, officials assure the public there is no risk.
Workers performing routine radiation checks on July 3rd located the abandoned nest near liquid nuclear waste storage tanks. The nest was promptly sprayed with insecticide, removed, and disposed of as radioactive waste.
Officials believe the nest’s radioactivity stems from residual contamination leftover from the site’s operational days, not a leak from the waste tanks. However, watchdog group Savannah River Site Watch has criticized the official report as incomplete, demanding further details regarding the contamination’s source and the potential for additional radioactive nests.
The group’s executive director, Tom Clements, emphasized the importance of identifying the wasp species, as the nest’s composition could help pinpoint the contamination’s origin. Clements expressed his frustration with the lack of transparency, stating, “I’m as mad as a hornet that SRS didn’t explain where the radioactive waste came from or if there is some kind of leak from the waste tanks that the public should be aware of.”
Savannah River Mission Completion, the site’s current overseer, asserts the contaminated nest poses no threat to the public. The tank farm’s location well within the site’s boundaries and the limited flight range of wasps ensure no radioactive insects have ventured outside the facility. Even if live wasps had been present, their radiation levels would have been significantly lower than the nest itself.
The Savannah River Site, established during the Cold War to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons, now focuses on nuclear fuel production and environmental cleanup. Over 165 million gallons of liquid nuclear waste generated at the site has been reduced to roughly 34 million gallons through evaporation. Of the site’s underground waste storage tanks, 43 remain active, and eight have been closed.