COMING ATTRACTIONS: Invasion of the Hot Wasps

 

Headline:  New York Times, 8/1/2025

Emily Anthes reports:

“The U.S. Department of Energy is managing the discovery of four wasp nests with very low levels of radioactive contamination,” Edwin Deshong, the manager of the department’s Savannah River Operations Office, said in an emailed statement.  “The nests do not pose a health risk to SRS workers, the community, or the environment.” 

But the discovery raised questions about the extent of the environmental contamination at the site, said Timothy Mousseau, a biologist at the University of South Carolina who studies organisms and ecosystems in radioactive regions of the world, including Chernobyl, Ukraine, and Fukushima, Japan. 

“This is an indicator that there are contaminants spread across this area that have not been completely encased and protected,” Dr. Mousseau said.