At the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, a wasp nest with radiation levels exceeding federal regulations was discovered near liquid nuclear waste storage tanks. The nest, which was removed and disposed of as radioactive waste, was likely contaminated by residual radioactivity from the site’s past operations. While officials assured the public that there was no leak and no danger, a watchdog group criticized the report for lacking details about the source of the contamination. The site, once crucial for nuclear bomb component manufacturing, now focuses on fuel production and cleanup, with millions of gallons of liquid nuclear waste still stored in underground tanks.
Read More
An expedition has located over 1,000 barrels of nuclear waste in the northeast Atlantic, as announced by a French research organization. This international team, aboard the ship “L’Atalante,” is searching for waste disposed of between the 1950s and 1980s when hundreds of thousands of barrels were dumped in the ocean. The researchers aim to map the location of the barrels and assess their impact on the local ecosystem by collecting samples using tools like an autonomous diving robot. The team hopes to determine the extent of any potential radioactivity leakage from the drums, which were not designed to contain radioactivity for long periods.
Read More
Sweden is embarking on the construction of a truly remarkable project: a nuclear waste storage facility designed to hold the spent fuel from all of its nuclear power plants for the next 100,000 years. This isn’t just a temporary solution; the scale of the undertaking reflects a long-term commitment to responsible waste management. It’s a testament to careful planning and foresight, a perspective that considers not only the immediate needs but also the legacy left for generations far into the future.
The design itself appears to be heavily influenced by the successful Finnish Onkalo facility. This suggests a pragmatic approach: observing the functionality of a similar project before implementing it on a larger scale.… Continue reading
John Q. Hosedrinker 
Matt Underwood