The three toed fish were bad enough, but this???
Officials at a former nuclear bomb site in South Carolina have discovered a radioactive wasp nest.
Workers were conducting a routine radiation level check at the Savannah River Site near Aiken when a nest was identified with liquid nuclear waste tanks, The Associated Press (AP) reported.
The U.S. Department of Energy filed a report on July 22 stating the nest had 10 times the radiation level that is permitted by federal regulations.
Full article, HERE from Fox News.
Now they ‘claim’ no wasps were found, so where did they go??? And where did they find the material they used to build the nest? Inquiring minds and all that…
It’s not like there aren’t plenty of places they could be. Most of SRS is trees, swamp, and the Savannah River is on the south boundary. At 310 square miles, with 14 different ‘sites’ on the ground, there is a lot of ‘stuff’ going on there…
And who really knows were those wasps are? Do they glow in the dark? If they sting you, what happens?
So many questions, so few answers… In other words, typical government site… sigh
THIS is why I come here: to get the news the MSM is afraid to publish! 🙂
Did our taxes pay to determine a permissible level of radiation in wasp nests? If so, WHY? I want my taxes to fund useful things like deciding the maximum allowable radiation level in a penguin nest. Also, I think Blinky on the Simpsons has three eyes, not toes.
+1
Trust the science!
Sounds like something from a movie made in the 50s complete with cheesy special effects. No doubt those wasps would grow to the size of boxcars and attack Los Angeles or New York.
Spoilsport!
We should be so lucky.
Gee, those fireflies sure are bright.
You beat me to it! With AI, they could redo the classic THEM replacing the ants with wasps.
“when a nest was identified with liquid nuclear waste tanks”
Translate to English.
Aye, Captain, they are far more scientifically advanced that we thought.
When we lived in Australia we were amused by the panic that ensued when it was revealed that a Portuguese ship had inadvertently brought “killer European wasps” to Oz.
To be frightened by wasps in a land hotching with venomous creatures and crocs, with sharks patrolling the beaches: Oo, Mummy, wasps!
In the Richland, Washington land fill they found radioactive fruit flies. Turns out at the Hanford site, a former plutonium production area, they used a sugar based product to “fix” loose radioactive contamination. Fruit flies ate the sugary material, and then made nests in discarded fruit in garbage dumpsters. The supposed clean garbage was then sent to the regular Richland garbage dump. The levels were pretty low, but you can’t make this stuff up.
@Jim – “…size of boxcars and attack LA or NY.” We should be so lucky? And could we maybe get a twofer there?
I’m not surprised, unfortunately. They seem to be aiming to outdo Hanford.
Also, I’m not concerned about this – federal radiation limits are VERY low. 10 times the limit is still fairly low. I AM concerned about how they accessed radiation – if it turned up in a wasps nest, where else will it turn up? And at what levels?
Superhero origin story in the making?
I was thinking that.
If I’m stung, do I get wasp powers?
What would those be?
I admit I didn’t have Radioactive Wasps on my 2025 Bingo Card.
Craig, CO is a cancer ‘hot spot’. During the uranium boom the discarded overlay and processed discarded gravel was used by the local concrete company. Many foundations in Craig were poured from concrete with low levels of radiation.
To expand on your comment, the tailings used in the concrete underwent radioactive decay producing radon gas atoms when then went into the peoples’ dwellings. Breath it and if you were “lucky” the radon gas atom would decay into a polonium atom in your lungs which would then decay to a lead atom, both times by the emission of alpha particles. People were getting cancer from this.
That happened to an aunt. Other relatives lived, or still live, in Craig.Today there is more awareness and radon monitoring is part of living there.
A friend lives in a house with a radon mitigation system in the basement; it pulls “basement” air outside and pulls in fresh outside air. The current outside air quality index is “unhealthy” (and rather brown) due to Canadians smoking too much. If the air were less opaque, I could see the cooling tower “clouds” from the Byron, Illinois nuke plant. Life is hard- take a deep breath (or maybe not) and carry on.
Personally, I’m hoping the radon in my basement will kill off the black mold or at least make it glow in the dark so I can lower my light bill.
Eh. It’s like all the ‘radioactive’ animals in and around Chernobyl. Who are perfectly fine for being exposed to such high levels.
People overreact to radiation. Especially due to panic artist reporting and anti-nuke activists.
All- Y’all DO raise some interesting points… And I’m not worried, I’m in Texas…LOL
The giant radioactive wasps are in an assisted living facility on the moon.
The NSDAP moon base was later taken over by NASA, and is now part of area 420.
This relates to the deep dark secret of what really went down with the Artemis landing, and the true purpose of cutting funding to NASA science missions.
(Which is to say that the wasps don’t matter, and the official limits have a good chance of being too conservative. Also, I am suffering an excess of silly.)
Dammit, Bob! Spoilers!
Having played Fallout New Vegas, let’s just say giant radioactive wasps (cazadors) make me twitch.
Nothing like the word “radioactive” to generate unwarranted panic. Most things on this planet are “radioactive” to some extent. Including many fruits and vegetables.
Any food high in Potassium is slightly radioactive, enough that sometimes you hear about a ‘Banana-equivalent dose’. Same with dry powder fire extinguishers.
The dose makes the poison and there is a lot of evidence low levels of exposure are beneficial but the eco-crazies are convinced the old linear dose model (some damage at any level) is the Right One.
Rick T:
Yay, hormesis. IIRC, there is (was?) a Russian apartment complex built with rebar contaminated with radioactive cobalt. People freaked initially. Long-term study revealed residents had a lower incidence of cancer versus non-residents. Huh.
Bob- LOL
Ag- Yep…
Dan- Agreed!
Rick- Sigh… Yep. I got to Japan right after Fukushima. Was talking to the NEST folks, I got more ‘radiation’ on the flight over than I did there.
Mr NFO, I’m a bit confused by this post. Do you somehow distrust out RULERS?
Surely not.