On Thursday, The U.K. Daily Mail reported the following:
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.
It is somewhat encouraging that no trace of actual wasps has been found.
The article notes:
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.
One can hope that the amount of radiation killed any wasps that were in the nest. However, I remember someone telling me that the only animal that would survive a worldwide nuclear war would be the cockroach. I wonder if wasps are as sturdy as cockroaches. I hope I never find out!
The article concludes:
‘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.
There is a real good science fiction movie in this if anyone wants to write the script!