Radioactive wasp nest turned up at SRS

As if coping with South Carolina’s July heat isn’t bad enough, workers at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site recently encountered a radioactive wasp nest.

On July 3, a radiological control staffer “discovered a wasp nest on a stanchion near 241-127F (adjacent to Tank 17) in a controlled area,” according to an occurrence report filed with DOE.

After the nest was sprayed to kill the wasps, it was later discovered the nest had a radioactive contamination level “greater than 10 times the total contamination values in 10 CFR 835 Appendix D,” according to the report.

“The wasp nest is considered onsite legacy radioactive contamination not related to a loss of contamination control,” at ongoing operations, the report goes on to say. 

DOE concluded there was no impact from the wasp nest’s discovery and no further action required by the department.

The F Tank Farm, where the next was discovered, is centrally located inside the 310-square-mile Savannah River Site, said an SRS spokesperson in a Wednesday email to Exchange Monitor. “Generally, wasps travel only a few hundred yards from their nest,” the spokesperson said.

News of the radioactive wasp nest was reported this week by a South Carolina television station.