Appeared in a place in the US where you work with nuclear bombs material
Radioactive wasp nest found in a place where the US made nuclear bombs
by Associated Press | published in CNN International
Workers in a place in South Carolina where the United States produced essential components for nuclear bombs found a nest of radioactive veses, but authorities ensure that there is no danger to anyone.
According to a US Department of Energy report, employees who regularly monitor radiation levels in the Savannah River Site *, near Aiken, detected the nest on July 3, on a pole near the tanks where liquid nuclear waste is stored.
The nest had a radiation level ten times higher than that permitted by federal standards, those responsible said.
The workers sprayed the nest with insecticide, removed it and discarded it as radioactive residue. No living wasps were found, according to the authorities.
The report states that there is no leakage in waste tanks and that the nest has been contaminated by what they call “historical radioactive contamination in the place”, resulting from the existing residual radioactivity since the time when the complex was fully operational.
The Savannah River Site Watch Surveillance Group considers, however, that the report is at least incomplete, as it does not clarify the source of contamination, nor how the wasps may have had contact with it, besides not excluding the possibility of other radioactive nests if there is any escape.
Knowing what kind of nest was found could be decisive – some wasps build the nests with land, others use different materials, which could help identify the origin of contamination, explained Tom Clements, the group’s executive director, in a written message.
“I am as angry as a wasp because SRS has not explained where radioactive contamination or if there is any escape in the tanks that should be of public knowledge,” said Clements.
According to Savannah River Mission Completion, the entity currently responsible for the site, the tanks field is well within the limits of the complex and the wasps usually fly only a few hundred meters from their nests, so there is no risk of leaving the facilities.
Even if they had been found wasps, they would have much lower levels of radiation than the nests, the same entity, cited by the Aiken Standard newspaper.
The Savannah River Site was inaugurated in the early 1950s to manufacture the plutonium nuclei necessary for the construction of nuclear bombs in the context of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Currently, the site is focused on fuel production for nuclear power plants and decontamination work.
According to Savannah River Mission Complete, the complex generated more than 625 million liters of liquid nuclear waste, a volume that was reduced by evaporation to about 129 million liters.
43 underground tanks are still in operation, while eight have already been closed.
