The hazardous insect abode was located near a set of tanks filled with liquid nuclear waste, although the team didn’t detect any leaks. The Savannah River Site’s first nuclear reactor went critical in 1952, creating the means to produce plutonium pits—a core component for the era’s nuclear arsenal. It generated over 165 million gallons of liquid nuclear waste before the site ceased its original operations in 1988. Today, Savannah River manufactures nuclear plant fuel, while remediation efforts continue on about 34 million gallons of remaining nuclear waste. While a comparatively smaller issue, the radioactive wasp nest is already generating blowback from local watchdogs.