Radioactive wasps nest sparks urgent warning at Cold War nuclear weapon site

An unusual discovery at a former Cold War nuclear weapons facility in South Carolina has triggered alarm bells, with scientists warning it could mean contaminants are leaking.Four wasp nests contaminated with radioactive material at the Savannah River Site (SRS), a sprawling, 310-square-mile complex near Aiken, South Carolina, have been discovered.

The site, once used to produce plutonium and tritium for nuclear weapons, is now primarily focused on environmental cleanup - a project the US Department of Energy (DOE) says won’t be completed until 2065.

The first of the nests was discovered in early July by workers near a nuclear waste tank. The wasps were exterminated and the nest was disposed of as radioactive waste, according to a Department of Energy report. Three more contaminated nests have since been found in other parts of the site. It comes after the 'UK's most dangerous plant' leaves toddler in A&E with second-degree burns.

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Although DOE officials maintain there is no danger to workers or the surrounding community, the findings sparked questions about lingering contamination at the site - and whether current cleanup efforts are sufficient.

“This is an indicator that there are contaminants spread across this area that have not been completely encased and protected,” Dr Timothy Mousseau, a biologist at the University of South Carolina told the New York Times.

Dr Mousseau, who has spent decades studying the ecological effects of nuclear radiation in Chernobyl and Fukushima, said the discovery raises the possibility that radioactive material, previously believed to be safely contained, may still be accessible to wildlife.

He warned that while the public is unlikely to be exposed to radioactive stings - since wasps rarely travel more than 100 yards from their nests - the insects are acting as accidental messengers of a deeper problem.

“This could indicate that there is some new or old radioactive contamination that is coming to the surface that was unexpected,” Dr Mousseau added.

One theory is that the wasps used pulp from discarded or contaminated wood to build their nests, inadvertently incorporating radioactive material into their hives.

The Department of Energy has tried to calm concern. Edwin Deshong, manager of the DOE’s Savannah River office, confirmed in a statement that the nests had "very low levels" of radioactive contamination and posed "no health risk to SRS workers, the community, or the environment."

This isn’t the first time wildlife at the SRS site has shown signs of contamination. In 2017, the DOE reported that radioactive bird droppings had been found on the roof of a site building, suggesting birds were picking up material and potentially carrying it far beyond the facility’s borders.

The SRS has been undergoing cleanup since 1996, a slow and complex process given the age of the site and the scale of contamination.

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