(MENAFN) A radioactive wasp nest was found earlier this month at the Savannah River Site, a former Cold War-era nuclear weapons production facility near the South Carolina–Georgia border, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Energy.

Discovered on July 3, the nest had radiation levels ten times higher than what is permitted by federal standards. However, officials clarified that the contamination is classified as "onsite legacy radioactive contamination" and is not the result of a recent failure in containment.

“The nest was sprayed to exterminate the wasps and then sealed and disposed of as radioactive waste,” the report noted. It added that the surrounding area showed no signs of contamination.

Established in the early 1950s, the Savannah River Site was a major producer of plutonium and tritium for the U.S. nuclear weapons program. Although it no longer manufactures weapons material, the facility remains active in managing nuclear waste, national security projects, environmental cleanup, nuclear nonproliferation, and clean energy research.

The site is operated by Savannah River Nuclear Solutions under the supervision of the Department of Energy.

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