Overview

• Radiological Control Operations personnel discovered the wasp nest on July 3 at the F-Area Tank Farm during routine monitoring at the Savannah River Site.
• Probes revealed contamination measuring roughly 100,000 disintegrations per minute—ten times above federal regulatory limits—attributed to residual Cold War-era radioactivity.
• Workers neutralized the nest with insecticide, bagged it as radiological waste, and subsequent surveys detected no off-nest contamination or operational impacts.
• The DOE report documenting the incident was issued on July 22 after a review of past wildlife contamination cases to ensure consistent reporting criteria.
• Savannah River Site Watch has criticized the report for failing to identify the contamination’s origin or assess the risk of additional radioactive nests.