Radioactive Wasp: Everything You Must Know About the Unique Findings

Liputan6.com, Jakarta  A radioactive wasp nest was recently discovered at the Savannah River Site, a former nuclear weapons production facility in South Carolina, United States. 

The discovery was made by employees during a routine radiation check on July 3, 2025. 

The nest, found near liquid nuclear waste storage tanks, registered radiation levels ten times higher than federal limits for contamination. 

After its identification, the nest was sprayed with insecticide and disposed of as radioactive waste. Notably, there were no wasps present in the nest at the time of its removal. 

 "The wasp nest was sprayed to kill wasps, then bagged as radiological waste," says a US Department of Energy report released last week. No wasps were found at the site near Aiken in South Carolina. 

Following this initial discovery, at least three more radioactive wasp nests were found within the facility, raising concerns among scientists and environmental watchdog groups about the extent of residual contamination in the area. 

The U.S. Department of Energy, which currently manages the site, clarified that these findings do not pose any threat to workers, the surrounding community, or the environment. 

Monitoring of the nearby area found no signs of additional contamination. 

Officials believe the cause of the radioactivity is “onsite legacy radioactive contamination” — leftover radioactivity from the site’s Cold War-era role making materials for nuclear bombs. 

Since wasps normally use local materials such as mud and wood for their nests, scientists have suggested that the insects likely incorporated contaminated materials found onsite, rather than picking up fresh radioactive dust from leaking tanks. 

Importantly, the wasps themselves would have exhibited much lower radiation levels compared to their nests. 

The Savannah River Site itself has a complex history. Established in the 1950s, it originally produced plutonium and tritium for military use and has generated over 165 million gallons (625 million liters) of liquid nuclear waste over its decades of operation. 

Today, tank waste at the site has been reduced to about 34 million gallons thanks to ongoing cleanup and evaporation processes, but 43 underground storage tanks remain in use while 8 have been decommissioned. 

Though officials maintain there is no health risk, the findings have reignited debate about the adequacy of nuclear waste containment and long-term safety at former weapons sites. 

Some experts and environmental advocates are calling for more thorough investigation and transparency regarding the origins of the contamination and potential risks for wildlife and humans. 

The Department of Energy report noted that wasps living inside the nest would have significantly lower radiation levels than the nest itself.The report also noted that wasps typically fly only a few hundred feet from their nest, and the nest was found in the middle of the 310-square-mile Savannah River Site—meaning it's unlikely they flew outside the facility.

"No contamination was found in the area," the report notes. "There were no impacts to workers, the environment or the public," 

Savannah River Site Watch, the watchdog group that monitors the site, says many questions remain unanswered.

"I'm as mad as a hornet that SRS didn't explain where the radioactive waste came from or if there is some kind of leak from the waste tanks that the public should be aware of," spokesman Tom Clements told the Associated Press. 

The site once produced more than 165 million gallons (625 million liters) of liquid nuclear waste, according to the Savannah River Mission Completion.There are still 43 underground tanks in use, eight of which have been capped.