In the news: We are always on the lookout for interesting hazardous material stories, and this week, we found one.
- On July 3, workers at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina discovered a radioactive wasp nest near underground tanks storing liquid nuclear waste.
- According to a U.S. Department of Energy report, the nests had very low radiation levels. The nests were classified as radioactive waste and disposed of.
Officials from Savannah River Mission Completion, which manages the site, emphasized there is no public danger.
- The tank farm is located deep within the facility, and the wasps’ limited flight range makes it highly unlikely they left the area.
- No wasps were found in the nest, and it was safely removed and treated as radioactive waste.
The radioactivity is believed to stem from legacy contamination—residual radiation left over from the site’s Cold War-era mission of producing plutonium pits for nuclear weapons. Today, the site focuses on nuclear fuel production and cleanup, reducing over 165 million gallons of liquid nuclear waste to about 34 million gallons.
Yes, and: Given that the nest was classified as radioactive waste and properly disposed of, there’s a good chance it ended up packaged in a Type A UN-rated Skolnik drum!