Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Safety workers recently encountered a scenario straight out of a sci-fi film while surveying a decommissioned nuclear weapons plant in South Carolina. According to the US Department of Energy, on July 3 a team at the Savannah River Site near the Georgia border, detected an irradiated wasp nest that exhibited a radiation level 10 times higher than the federal regulatory limit. The hazardous insect abode was located near a set of tanks filled with liquid nuclear waste, although the team didn't detect any leaks. Instead, experts believe the nest set off Geiger counters through what's known as "onsite legacy radioactive contamination."