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NBC News
2 hours ago
- General
- NBC News
Radioactive wasp nest found at site where U.S. once made nuclear bombs
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Workers at a site in South Carolina that once made key parts for nuclear bombs in the U.S. have found a radioactive wasp nest but officials said there is no danger to anyone. Employees who routinely check radiation levels at the Savannah River Site near Aiken found a wasp nest on July 3 on a post near tanks where liquid nuclear waste is stored, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Energy. The nest had a radiation level 10 times what is allowed by federal regulations, officials said. The workers sprayed the nest with insect killer, removed it and disposed of it as radioactive waste. No wasps were found, officials said. The report said there is no leak from the waste tanks, and the nest was most likely radioactive through what it called 'onsite legacy radioactive contamination' from the residual radioactivity left from when the site was fully operational. The watchdog group Savannah River Site Watch said the report was at best incomplete since it doesn't detail where the contamination came from, how the wasps might have encountered it and the possibility there could be another radioactive nest if there is a leak somewhere. Knowing the type of wasp nest could also be critical — some wasps make nest out of dirt and others use different material which could pinpoint where the contamination came from, Tom Clements, executive director of the group, wrote in a text message. '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,' Clements said. The tank farm is well inside the boundaries of the site and wasps generally fly just a few hundred yards from their nests, so there is no danger they are outside the facility, according to a statement from Savannah River Mission Completion which now oversees the site. If there had been wasps found, they would have significantly lower levels of radiation than their nests, according to the statement which was given to the Aiken Standard. The site was opened in the early 1950s to manufacture the plutonium pits needed to make the core of nuclear bombs during the start of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Now the site has shifted toward making fuel for nuclear plants and cleanup. The site generated more than 165 million gallons of liquid nuclear waste which has, through evaporation, been reduced to about 34 million gallons, according to Savannah River Mission Completion. There are still 43 of the underground tanks in use while eight have been closed.
Daily Mirror
3 hours ago
- General
- Daily Mirror
Radioactive wasps nest uncovered at nuclear site used to make Cold War bombs
Workers have found a radioactive wasps nest at the Savannah River Site, in South Carolina, at a location near tanks where liquid nuclear waste is stored, said US officials A radioactive wasp nest has been found by workers at a nuclear facility that made key parts for bombs. Employees who routinely check radiation levels at the Savannah River Site near Aiken, in South Carolina, found a wasps nest on July 3 on a post near tanks where liquid nuclear waste is stored, according to a report from the US Department of Energy. And the nest had a radiation level 10 times what is allowed by federal regulations, officials in the US said. The workers sprayed the nest with insect killer, removed it and disposed of it as radioactive waste. No wasps were found, officials said. It comes after a doctor's warning to people who drink even a 'single cup of tea'. The report said there is no leak from the waste tanks, and the nest was likely radioactive through what it called 'onsite legacy radioactive contamination' from the residual radioactivity left from when the site was fully operational. The watchdog group Savannah River Site Watch said the report was at best incomplete since it doesn't detail where the contamination came from, how the wasps might have encountered it and the possibility there could be another radioactive nest if there is a leak somewhere. Knowing the type of wasp nest could also be critical — some wasps make nest out of dirt and others use different material which could pinpoint where the contamination came from, Tom Clements, executive director of the group, wrote in a text message. '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,' Mr Clements said. The tank farm is well inside the boundaries of the site and wasps generally fly just a few hundred yards from their nests, so there is no danger they are outside the facility, according to a statement from Savannah River Mission Completion which now oversees the site. If there had been wasps found, they would have significantly lower levels of radiation than their nests, according to the statement which was given to the Aiken Standard. The site was opened in the early 1950s to manufacture the plutonium pits needed to make the core of nuclear bombs during the start of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Now the site has shifted toward making fuel for nuclear plants and clean up. The site generated more than 165 million gallons (625 million liters) of liquid nuclear waste which has, through evaporation, been reduced to about 34 million gallons (129 million liters), according to Savannah River Mission Completion. There are still 43 of the underground tanks in use while eight have been closed.
Irish Independent
3 hours ago
- Science
- Irish Independent
Radioactive wasps' nest found at nuclear site – but officials insist it poses ‘no danger'
Employees who routinely check radiation levels at the Savannah River Site near Aiken found a wasp nest on July 3 on a post near tanks where liquid nuclear waste is stored, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Energy. The nest had a radiation level 10 times what is allowed by federal regulations, officials said. The workers sprayed the nest with insect killer, removed it and disposed of it as radioactive waste. No wasps were found, officials said, insisting that there is no danger to anyone. The report said there is no leak from the waste tanks, and the nest was likely radioactive through what it called 'onsite legacy radioactive contamination' from the residual radioactivity left from when the site was fully operational. The watchdog group Savannah River Site Watch said the report was at best incomplete since it doesn't detail where the contamination came from, how the wasps might have encountered it and the possibility there could be another radioactive nest if there is a leak somewhere. Knowing the type of wasp nest could also be critical — some wasps make nest out of earth and others use different material which could pinpoint where the contamination came from, Tom Clements, executive director of the group, wrote in a text message. '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,' Clements said. The tank farm is well inside the boundaries of the site and wasps generally fly just a few hundred yards from their nests, so there is no danger they are outside the facility, according to a statement from Savannah River Mission Completion which now oversees the site. If there had been wasps found, they would have significantly lower levels of radiation than their nests, according to the statement which was given to the Aiken Standard. The site was opened in the early 1950s to manufacture the plutonium pits needed to make the core of nuclear bombs during the start of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Now the site has shifted toward making fuel for nuclear plants and clean up. The site generated more than 625 million litres of liquid nuclear waste which has, through evaporation, been reduced to about 129 million litres, according to Savannah River Mission Completion. There are still 43 of the underground tanks in use while eight have been closed.
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Radioactive wasp nest discovered at nuclear waste storage site in South Carolina
The US Department of Energy has reported the discovery of a radioactive wasp nest at one of its facilities in South Carolina that was once involved in the production of parts for nuclear weapons. According to a 22 July department report, the contaminated nest was discovered at the facility – the Savannah River site – on 3 July near tanks used to store liquid nuclear waste. It said the nest was sprayed and was disposed of as radiological waste, and that testing confirmed radiation levels 'greater than 10 times the total contamination values' that federal regulations allow. Related: The US buried millions of gallons of wartime nuclear waste – Doge cuts could wreck the cleanup The contaminated wasp nest was the result of 'onsite legacy radioactive contamination' and 'not related to a loss of contamination control', the Department of Energy stated in the report. 'The ground and surrounded area did not have any contamination,' it said, concluding that no further action was required. Thee Savannah River Mission Completion, which oversees the site, confirmed to the local Aiken Standard newspaper that its radiological control staff discovered the test 'while performing routine radiological monitoring activities'. It said the nest was sprayed and surveyed for contamination, according to procedure. 'While no wasps were found on the nest, the individual insects would have significantly lower levels of contamination,' it said. 'Upon discovery of the contaminated nest, the immediate area was secured and surveyed; no contamination was found in the area. There were no impacts to workers, the environment or the public.' It noted that the site is near the center of the 310-sq-mile site. 'Generally, wasps travel only a few hundred yards from their nest,' it said. The executive director of the Savannah River Site Watch watchdog group, Tom Clements, told the Associated Press this week that he was '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'. According to the Department of Energy, the Savannah River site was built in the early 1950s and 'focused on the production of plutonium and tritium for use in the manufacture of nuclear weapons from its inception in the early 1950s until the end of the Cold War'. In 1992, the facility began focusing instead on environmental cleanup, nuclear materials management, and research and development. The area where the nest was found – known as the 'F-Area Tank Farm' – contains 22 underground carbon steel tanks, with each tank reportedly capable of holding 750,000 to 1.3m gallons (2.8m to 5m litres) of radioactive waste, according to the Aiken Standard. Solve the daily Crossword
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Science
- Daily Mail
Chaos erupts after radioactive wasps go missing from former US nuclear bomb factory
A South Carolina city has been left rattled after a radioactive wasp nest was discovered at a former nuclear weapons site, yet no trace of the actual wasps has been found. A new report from the US Department of Energy (DOE), released July 27, revealed that the nest was emitting radiation levels 10 times higher than what federal regulations allow. The alarming find was made on July 3 at the Savannah River Site (SRS) near Aiken, where employees conducting routine checks stumbled upon the contaminated nest perched on a post near tanks storing liquid nuclear waste. Officials stressed there was no leak from the nearby waste tanks, saying they believe the nest became radioactive due to 'onsite legacy contamination.' Legacy contamination refers to leftover radioactive residue from the site's bomb-making days during the Cold War. 'The wasp nest was sprayed to kill wasps, then bagged as radiological waste. The ground and surrounded area did not have any contamination,' the report said. A DOE spokesperson told NewsNation that if wasps had been present, they likely would have carried far less radiation than what was measured in the nest itself. However, the watchdog group Savannah River Site Watch slammed the report as 'incomplete,' saying it fails to explain the source of the contamination, how wasps were exposed or if more radioactive nests may be hidden. Tom Clements, executive director of the group, told AP: '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.' The tank farm is well inside the boundaries of the site and wasps generally fly just a few hundred yards from their nests, so there is no danger they are outside the facility, according to a statement from Savannah River Mission Completion which now oversees the site. SRS, a 310-square-mile-site in Aiken, focused on the production of plutonium and tritium for use in the manufacture of nuclear weapons from its inception in the early 1950s until the end of the Cold War. In 1992, the focus at SRS turned to environmental cleanup, nuclear materials management and research and development activities. The site generated more than 165 million gallons of liquid nuclear waste which has, through evaporation, been reduced to about 34 million gallons, according to Savannah River Mission Completion. There are still 43 of the underground tanks in use while eight have been closed. 'Radiological Control personnel discovered a wasp nest in F Tank Farm at the Savannah River Site while performing routine radiological monitoring activities,' according to a statement released by Savannah River Mission Completion. The F-Area Tank Farm where the nest was found holds 22 massive underground tanks, each up to 100 feet wide and 23 feet deep, packed with between 750,000 and 1.3 million gallons of radioactive waste. 'While no wasps were found on the nest, the individual insects would have significantly lower levels of contamination, Savannah River Mission Completion added. The organization noted that 'F Tank Farm is centrally located inside the 310-square-mile Savannah River Site. Generally, wasps travel only a few hundred yards from their nest.' Officials admit the report on the wasp nest was delayed, citing the need to review past incidents involving contaminated wildlife and to meet strict federal reporting rules. 'No further action was required in the field. There is no impact from event on other activities and operations,' the DOE stated in the report.
