# Radioactive Wasp Nest in South Carolina **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 31, 2025, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radioactive-wasp-nest-in-south-carolina/1021548 "2025-07-31T14:44:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radioactive-wasp-nest-in-south-carolina/1021548/1 "2025-07-31T14:44:19Z")
I confess this was NOT on my 2025 Weird Event Bingo Card: [radioactive wasp nest found at former nuclear production site.](https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/30/us/radioactive-wasp-nest-south-carolina) Apparently the nest was vacant when discovered which does lead to the question of where the wasps went. No one at present seems to be reporting much detail. When double-checking for duplicate subjects I found this[older thread also talking about radioactive wasps](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/giant-atomic-wasps-newslink/499997) at the old Hanford site. I will also note that I did not expect Discourse to tell my my topic was “similar” or possibly related to an oral sex discussion. 😱 🫢 🤯 ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radioactive-wasp-nest-in-south-carolina/1021548/2 "2025-07-31T15:00:54Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Apparently the nest was vacant when discovered which does lead to the question of where the wasps went. Maybe they went up to Washington, DC, to sort out the mess there. We can only hope. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radioactive-wasp-nest-in-south-carolina/1021548/3 "2025-07-31T15:07:04Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Apparently the nest was vacant when discovered which does lead to the question of where the wasps went. No one at present seems to be reporting much detail. [**Ah-hah! I think I found one!**](https://proactivepestga.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/asian-giant-hornet-image.jpg-w-490.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radioactive-wasp-nest-in-south-carolina/1021548/4 "2025-07-31T15:07:25Z")
Go, giant wasps! ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radioactive-wasp-nest-in-south-carolina/1021548/5 "2025-07-31T15:07:31Z")
Woah, 50s sci-fi vibes all over that story. I bet they’ve gone underground in order to morph into gigantic wasps. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radioactive-wasp-nest-in-south-carolina/1021548/6 "2025-07-31T15:23:12Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > an oral sex discussion. 😱 🫢 🤯 Nice use of emojis. 🤤 ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radioactive-wasp-nest-in-south-carolina/1021548/7 "2025-07-31T15:29:09Z")
At least it wasn’t a radioactive W.A.S.P. nest… [![](https://keithandthemovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/village1.jpg?w=545) ](https://keithandthemovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/village1.jpg?w=545) ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radioactive-wasp-nest-in-south-carolina/1021548/8 "2025-07-31T16:20:33Z")
I am sensing a reboot of _Them!_ Since we know Hollywood is out of new ideas. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radioactive-wasp-nest-in-south-carolina/1021548/9 "2025-07-31T16:35:09Z")
I hope not. I love the original. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radioactive-wasp-nest-in-south-carolina/1021548/10 "2025-07-31T16:38:16Z")
[Paul Hogan accent] That’s not a wasp. **This** is a wasp. [/PHA] [![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/pt/8/8a/The_Unicorn_and_the_Wasp.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/pt/8/8a/The_Unicorn_and_the_Wasp.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radioactive-wasp-nest-in-south-carolina/1021548/11 "2025-07-31T16:39:12Z")
That thing is pretty fly, for a yellow and black guy. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radioactive-wasp-nest-in-south-carolina/1021548/12 "2025-07-31T17:37:12Z")
Holy cow! LOL ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radioactive-wasp-nest-in-south-carolina/1021548/13 "2025-07-31T18:09:02Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Woah, 50s sci-fi vibes all over that story. I bet they’ve gone underground in order to morph into gigantic wasps. I came in here to post just this. Think **Monster from Green Hell** [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRtBJSuckRE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRtBJSuckRE) Actually, an even scarier thing would be if it was like a science fiction story i once read (but can’t recall the titl of, or who wrote it) where a lot of little creatures end up radioactive like this, and when they all get together they exceed the critical mass/density and cause an explosion. It’s unlikely that they’d be able to get a high enough density to cause a chain reaction, but they might be able to create a very hot region, the way nuclear waste in Chelyabinsk was thought to have concentrated by a sort of “soil chromatography” and got hot enough to cause a “mud volcano”. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radioactive-wasp-nest-in-south-carolina/1021548/14 "2025-07-31T20:03:40Z")
Just wait until radioactive rhinos stampede through your neighborhood. > **[South Africa starts injecting rhino horns with radioactive material to curb...](https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/south-africa-starts-injecting-rhino-horns-radioactive-material-124251419)** > > A South African university has launched an anti-poaching campaign to inject the horns of rhinos with radioactive isotopes that it says are harmless for the animals but which can be detected by customs agents ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2025, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/radioactive-wasp-nest-in-south-carolina/1021548/15 "2025-07-31T22:11:18Z")
I was surprised at the description that the wasps will be less radio-active than the nests. The wasps are known to concentrate heavy metals, and have been used as indicators of heavy metal poisoning: [Facing the threat: common yellowjacket wasps as indicators of heavy metal pollution - PMC (nih.gov)](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7376518/) If they accumulate heavy metals in the nest, perhaps that could be used for bio-remediation? [W.A.S.P. (band) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W.A.S.P._(band))