COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Workers at a site in South Carolina that once made key parts for nuclear bombs in the U.S. have found a radioactive wasp nest but officials said there is no danger to anyone.
Employees who routinely check radiation levels at the Savannah River Site near Aiken found a wasp nest on July 3 on a post near tanks where liquid nuclear waste is stored, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Energy.
The nest had a radiation level 10 times what is allowed by federal regulations, officials said.
The workers sprayed the nest with insect killer, removed it and disposed of it as radioactive waste. No wasps were found, officials said.
The report said there is no leak from the waste tanks, and the nest was likely radioactive through what it called “onsite legacy radioactive contamination” from the residual radioactivity left from when the site was fully operational.
The watchdog group Savannah River Site Watch said the report was at best incomplete since it doesn't detail where the contamination came from, how the wasps might have encountered it and the possibility there could be another radioactive nest if there is a leak somewhere.
Knowing the type of wasp nest could also be critical — some wasps make nest out of dirt and others use different material which could pinpoint where the contamination came from, Tom Clements, executive director of the group, wrote in a text message.
“I’m as mad as a hornet that SRS didn’t explain where the radioactive waste came from or if there is some kind of leak from the waste tanks that the public should be aware of,” Clements said.
The tank farm is well inside the boundaries of the site and wasps generally fly just a few hundred yards from their nests, so there is no danger they are outside the facility, according to a statement from Savannah River Mission Completion which now oversees the site.
If there had been wasps found, they would have significantly lower levels of radiation than their nests, according to the statement which was given to the Aiken Standard.
The site was opened in the early 1950s to manufacture the plutonium pits needed to make the core of nuclear bombs during the start of the Cold War with the Soviet Union. Now the site has shifted toward making fuel for nuclear plants and clean up.
The site generated more than 165 million gallons (625 million liters) of liquid nuclear waste which has, through evaporation, been reduced to about 34 million gallons (129 million liters), according to Savannah River Mission Completion.
There are still 43 of the underground tanks in use while eight have been closed.
FILE - Radioactive waste sealed in large stainless steel canisters is stored under five feet of concrete in a storage building at the Savannah River Site, near Aiken, S.C., Nov. 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton, File)
German-American winger Montrell Culbreath scored on his senior debut to cap Bayer Leverkusen's 3-1 win over Leipzig on Saturday, putting Leverkusen back among the Bundesliga title contenders.
The 18-year-old Culbreath, who has represented Germany and the United States at youth level, came off the bench in the 77th. With Leipzig searching for an equalizer, Culbreath surged up the field on a stoppage-time breakaway and scored into the top-left corner, wheeling away with arms wide in celebration.
Culbreath then had to wait to learn if his goal would count as VAR checked Leipzig's claim of handball in an earlier incident at the other end.
Leverkusen enters the winter break third in a season which began in chaos when Erik ten Hag was fired as coach after three games. Kasper Hjulmand has overseen nine wins in 13 Bundesliga games since.
Leverkusen dominated early on but Leipzig opened the scoring through Xaver Schlager's low shot fromthe edge of the box after the defense was slow to react at a throw-in.
Martin Terrier leveled five minutes later with a header from Arthur's cross, and Patrik Schick scored Leverkusen's second near halftime, leaving a defender sprawling and lofting the ball over the goalkeeper.
Leverkusen held on to inflict Leipzig's first home loss of the season despite missing left back Alejandro Grimaldo, center back Edmond Tapsoba and attacking midfielder Ibrahim Maza due to injury or the Africa Cup of Nations.
Leverkusen climbed to third, dropping Leipzig to fourth. Bayern Munich leads by six points from Borussia Dortmund and plays Heidenheim on Sunday.
Dzenan Pejcinovic scored a hat trick and was still on the losing team as Wolfsburg succumbed to Freiburg's late surge 4-3.
Pejcinovic hadn't scored in the Bundesliga before but the 20-year-old forward, starting because Mohamed Amoura was away at the Africa Cup, made his mark with three goals as Wolfsburg exploited defensive errors by Freiburg.
Wolfsburg's own blunders also proved costly as defender Jenson Seelt, on loan from Sunderland, gave away a penalty and diverted a save from goalkeeper Kamil Grabara into his own net.
That allowed Freiburg to level the score twice before substitute Derry Scherhart scored a 78th-minute winner.
Freiburg stayed ninth and Wolfsburg dropped to 14th with a loss after Daniel Bauer was confirmed as coach on a permanent basis earlier Saturday. Bauer had been interim coach since Paul Simonis was fired last month.
Eintracht Frankfurt ended 2025 in seventh place with one win from its last six games in all competitions, after drawing with Hamburger SV 1-1.
A poor pass across Frankfurt's defense was picked off by Albert Sambi Lokonga to give Hamburg the lead before Hugo Larsson leveled for Frankfurt off Nathaniel Brown's cross.
An offside header from Stuttgart's Deniz Undav in stoppage time was as close as his team and Hoffenheim got in their 0-0 draw, a result which didn't help either team's push for the Champions League places. Hoffenheim ended the day fifth, Stuttgart sixth.
András Schäfer scored a dramatic winner from a corner in stoppage time as eighth-placed Union Berlin finally broke down 10-man Cologne for a 1-0 win following Rav van den Berg's earlier red card for handball.
Augsburg and Werder Bremen drew 0-0.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Montrell Culbreath of Bayer Leverkusen, third from left, celebrates with teammates after scoring to make it 1:3 during the Bundesliga soccer match between RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen, in Leipzig, Germany, Saturday Dec. 20, 2025. (Jan Woitas/dpa via AP)
Montrell Culbreath of Bayer Leverkusen, right, celebrates after scoring to make it 1:3 during the Bundesliga soccer match between RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen, in Leipzig, Germany, Saturday Dec. 20, 2025. (Jan Woitas/dpa via AP)
Leverkusen's Martin Terrier celebrates after scoring during the Bundesliga soccer match between RB Leipzig and Bayer Leverkusen, in Leipzig, Germany, Saturday Dec. 20, 2025. (Jan Woitas/dpa via AP)
Hamburger's Albert Lokonga celebrates after scoring their side's first goal of the game during the Bundesliga soccer match between Hamburger SV and Eintracht Frankfurt, in Hamburg, Germany, Saturday Dec. 20, 2025. (Christian Charisius/dpa via AP)
Freiburg's Philipp Treu celebrates after scoring the opening goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between VfL Wolfsburg and SC Freiburg in Wolfsburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (Darius Simka/dpa via AP)
Wolfsburg's Dzenan Pejcinovic, left, celebrates with Yannick Gerhardt after scoring his side's second goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between VfL Wolfsburg and SC Freiburg in Wolfsburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (Darius Simka/dpa via AP)
