Overview

• Radiological Control Operations discovered on July 3 a wasp nest near F-Area Tank Farm with radiation levels around 100,000 disintegrations per minute—over 10 times federal limits.
• Crews sprayed the nest to kill the insects, bagged it as radiological waste and dismantled it, with follow-up surveys showing no surrounding contamination or impact to site activities.
• A DOE report released July 22 attributed the radioactivity to onsite legacy contamination rather than a leak and cited a reporting delay to review past wildlife incidents for consistency.
• Savannah River Site Watch criticized the DOE’s findings as incomplete and demanded clearer explanations of how the nest became radioactive and whether other contaminated wildlife remain undetected.
• The 310-square-mile Savannah River Site, built in the 1950s for plutonium and tritium production, now focuses on waste management, environmental cleanup and nuclear fuel work while managing residual Cold War-era contamination.