Latest news with #RadiologicalControl
The Sun
31-07-2025
- Science
- The Sun
Hive of radioactive WASPS found at nuclear site by officials
A HIVE of radioactive wasps has been discovered at a nuclear facility in the US, according to a public government report. Startled officials found that the nest clocked in at 100,000dpm, a moderately high radiation level, US outlet WYFF noted. 3 Disintegrations per minute (dpm) is the unit used to measure the rate at which a radioactive substance emits radiation. The report from the US Department of Energy revealed that Radiological Control Operations uncovered a wasp nest attached to a post near a tank at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, South Carolina. The nest has been described as "onsite legacy radioactive contamination", instead of being a loss of radioactive control. This means the nest is radioactive as a result of past activities, and not a result of a leak. While the Department has not detailed how the nest became contaminated, it has assured that the ground and surrounding area have not been contaminated. After being discovered on 3 July, the nest has since been sprayed and bagged as radiological waste to be destroyed. 'The delay in reporting was to allow time for reviewing previous wildlife contamination for consistency in reporting criteria,' the report stated. No other operations were affected by the discovery, The Independent reported. The site was constructed in the 1950s to produce the materials needed to build nuclear weapons during the Cold War. But cleanup and environmental efforts began in the 1980s after it was declared a Superfund site - a contaminated location that poses potential threats to public health and the environment. It is not the only case of radioactive wildlife inhabiting contaminated zones, with Norwegian reindeer becoming contaminated following the fallout of Chernobyl. Elsewhere in South Carolina, researchers have been monitoring radiation in turtles in the Mohave Desert and the Savannah River. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory researcher Cyler Conrad, who has been monitoring the turtles, told National Geographic: 'So many different turtles at so many different sites were shaped by nuclear activity that occurred at those locations." He added: 'I did not have a full appreciation for how widespread those nuclear signals are in the environment.' 3 3
The Independent
30-07-2025
- Science
- The Independent
Radioactive wasps found at South Carolina nuclear facility
Radioactive wasps have been found at a nuclear facility in South Carolina. Radiological Control Operations found a wasp nest on a post close to a tank at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Energy. The nest was sprayed to kill the wasps, officials said. After probing the nest, they found that it was at 100,000 dpm, a moderately high radiation level, WYFF noted. The nest is viewed as 'onsite legacy radioactive contamination' and not connected to a loss of control when it comes to contamination. Legacy radioactive contamination is the remaining contamination from previous activities. The Department of Energy didn't cite any other reasons behind the contamination of the wasps, with the officials noting that the ground and surrounding area did not have any contamination. The finding didn't impact other operations at the 310-square-mile facility. The site was constructed in the 1950s to produce the materials needed to build nuclear weapons during the Cold War, such as tritium and plutonium-239. After becoming a Superfund site for the Environmental Protection Agency, cleanup and environmental remediation efforts began.
