(NewsNation) — The highly publicized discovery of a radioactive wasp nest at a former nuclear-weapons facility in South Carolina may signal a larger problem within the local ecosystem, a watchdog tells “Elizabeth Vargas Reports.”
The U.S. Department of Energy said workers at the Savannah River Site on July 3 found an empty wasp nest with abnormally high radiation levels. Officials suggested nearby “legacy” waste contaminated the object. The nest was safely disposed of, and the public is in no danger, they said.
But Tom Clements of the Savannah River Site Watch says there could be a more disturbing explanation. He said wasps that built the nest may have gathered radioactive materials from farther out within the 300-square-mile property, where plutonium and tritium were once produced for weapons.
The Savannah River Site has shifted to making fuel for nuclear plants and cleanup.
“Hot water was pumped into the creeks. In the bottomlands now, there’s radioactive material because it would have gone right through the reactor. Animals have picked that stuff up,” Clements said. “The ecology lab on-site has documented that there has been some contamination of animals.
“When they have deer hunts on the site, they take a sample of tissue. This is the first time, though, that I’ve seen this type of insect contaminated.”
Clements is critical of the Energy Department, saying the agency typically has not been forthcoming with information.
“The public needs to know more about what is causing this because there could be some underlying problem that has more impacts than we can think about right now,” he said.