"I'm as mad as a hornet..."
Green Hornet
Employees at the site in South Carolina where the US used to construct nuclear weapons have discovered a highly radioactive wasp nest.
As CBS News reports, staff at the Savannah River Site (SRS) discovered the unusual nest earlier this month near tanks filled with liquid nuclear waste.
An official Department of Energy occurrence report lists the nest as showing contamination levels that are "greater than ten times" what is deemed safe by federal regulations.
The staffers sprayed the nest and "no further action" was required, according to the document. The wasps, notably, were missing.
However, officials maintain that if there had been any wasps, their radiation levels would be much lower than the nest. In other words, it's unlikely that the mishap resulted in some kind of mutated stinging insect.
However, watchdog Savannah River Site Watch, which "monitors a host of energy and nuclear issues from a public interest perspective," is crying foul, raising the possibility that more radioactive wasp nests could still be found.
Radiation Nation
Savannah executive director Tom Clements told CBS that knowing the type of wasp nest could allow investigators to trace back the original source of the contamination.
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