Radioactive wasps found at old nuclear weapons site in SC, federal report says

True to the plot of a 1950s monster movie, an old nuclear weapons facility in South Carolina has birthed radioactive wasps, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

The discovery was made July 3 at the 310-square-mile Savannah River Site in Aiken, which produced plutonium and tritium for nuclear weapons during the Cold War.

An entire nest was found on a post near Tank 17, a Radiological Control Operation (RCO) reported. Large tanks were built at the site to hold radioactive liquid waste generated by nuclear weapons production.

Testing revealed the wasps were not only radioactive, but at a level 10 times of what is allowed by federal regulations.

“The wasp nest was sprayed to kill wasps, then bagged as radiological waste,” the DOE reports. “The ground and surrounded area did not have any contamination.”

No mention was made of how the wasps became radioactive, but it was not a case of radioactivity escaping the site’s boundaries, officials said.

“The wasp nest is considered onsite legacy radioactive contamination not related to a loss of contamination control,” the DOE reports. “There is no impact from (the) event on other activities and operations.”

The report didn’t specify which wasp species was involved or if anyone was stung.

It’s not the first time a hint of contamination has been found in wildlife at the site. In 2017, staff found a radioactive dollop of bird poop during roof repairs, and they actually set up a barricade around it, report states.

Savannah River Site is about a 55-mile drive southwest from Columbia.

“In 1992, the focus at SRS turned to environmental cleanup, nuclear materials management, and research and development activities,” the DOE reports.

This story was originally published July 30, 2025 at 7:33 AM with the headline "Radioactive wasps found at old nuclear weapons site in SC, federal report says."