The US Department of Energy has reported the discovery of a radioactive wasp nest at one of its facilities in South Carolina that was once involved in the production of parts for nuclear weapons.

According to a 22 July department report, the contaminated nest was discovered at the facility – the Savannah River site – on 3 July near tanks used to store liquid nuclear waste.

It said the nest was sprayed and was disposed of as radiological waste, and that testing confirmed radiation levels “greater than 10 times the total contamination values” that federal regulations allow.

The contaminated wasp nest was the result of “onsite legacy radioactive contamination” and “not related