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Radiological Team Found Nest With Moderately High Contamination at Savannah River Site, Former Cold War Nuclear Production Center
An unusual case was recorded at a nuclear facility in the United States. A nest of radioactive wasps was found at the Savannah River Site, located in South Carolina.
The discovery was made by a Radiological Control team, which identified the nest on a support near a tank at the facility.
The site is operated under the responsibility of the U.S. Department of Energy.
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The incident occurred on July 3, shortly before 2 PM. After locating the nest, the technicians applied insecticide to eliminate the wasps.
According to the report, “the delay in communication was necessary to review the prior wildlife contamination and ensure consistency in reporting criteria.”
Subsequently, the material was packaged as radiological waste. Tests showed that the nest had a contamination level of 100,000 disintegrations per minute (dpm), a number considered moderately high.
The contamination, according to the official report, is classified as “legacy.” This means that the radiation levels present in the nest are residues from past activities and not a result of a current failure in the facility’s system.
This information was confirmed by the Department of Energy itself, which also stated that there were no signs of contamination in the soil or nearby areas.
Despite the curious nature of the situation, the incident did not affect the operation of the facility. The Savannah River Site is an extensive complex, covering about 310 square miles.
It was built in the 1950s during the Cold War for the purpose of producing materials for nuclear weapons, such as tritium and plutonium-239.
By the 1980s, the site was included on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) list of contaminated areas.
Since then, cleanup and environmental restoration work has been carried out in the region. The recent case of the radioactive wasp nest is now added to the list of occurrences related to legacy contamination from the intense nuclear activity of the 20th century.
The impact of radioactivity on wildlife has been documented in various regions worldwide. Cases have occurred in testing areas or nuclear accidents, such as forests in Germany, mountains in Japan, and the Enewetak Atoll in the Pacific.
Between 1948 and 1958, the United States conducted nuclear tests at this atoll, where sea turtles were observed with signs of radioactivity.
Currently, some of the waste from these tests is stored in a concrete structure that has leaks.
With information from Aventuras na História.
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