AIKEN, SC — A wasp nest contaminated with radioactive material was discovered earlier this month near a nuclear waste tank at the Savannah River Site, prompting a federal contamination report, officials confirmed Tuesday.
Radiological Control Operation (RCO) personnel found the nest on a metal stanchion near Tank 17 in the F-Area Tank Farm on July 3. According to the final occurrence report filed on July 22, the nest registered 100,000 disintegrations per minute per 100 square centimeters (dpm/100 cm²) beta/gamma, exceeding federal contamination thresholds by more than tenfold.
Officials said the contamination met the criteria outlined in 10 CFR Part 835 Appendix D, which mandates reporting of radioactive contamination in uncontrolled or non-posted areas above specific thresholds.
The nest was immediately sprayed and removed by RCO staff, then packaged as radiological waste. “The ground and surrounding area did not have any contamination,” the report stated.
While the incident posed no threat to ongoing operations, the delay in filing the report was attributed to a review of prior similar events involving wildlife-related contamination, according to Savannah River Mission Completion, the site contractor.
The final report noted the event as an instance of “onsite legacy radioactive contamination,” unrelated to any current release or failure of contamination controls.
No injuries were reported, and no further action was deemed necessary in the field. Similar wildlife-related contamination events have occurred at the facility in 2017 and 2021.