The government's elaborate plan for transporting its most dangerous nuclear materials still had a few bugs to be worked out -- literally.
Actually, they were beetles, according to a report from the U.S. Energy Department's Office of Scientific and Technical Information.
"During unloading operations at the Plutonium Fabrication Plant at the Hanford Site, two 9975 Shipping Packages were found to contain live insects," the report said, referring to the hardened, lead-shielded containers used to transport bomb-grade plutonium.
The intruders were identified by Clemson University's Dr. Robert Bellinger as drugstore beetles -- a common species named for its habit of eating pharmaceuticals, kitchen spices and virtually anything else it can access.
The infestations were detected in a packing material called Celotex that is placed around the secure metal containers as a shock absorber and as insulation against fire damage.
"It was determined after initial investigation that the beetles were consuming the glue boundary layers between the Celotex layers in the assemblies," the report said, noting that no nuclear material was compromised.
The unprecedented discovery prompted an investigation led by Savannah River National Laboratory.
"This is the first time that anyone I know in the packaging community had ever observed anything like this," said Steve Bellamy, the manager of the lab's Packaging Technology Group.
"If you look at the history of radioactive material packaging and the use of Celotex, tens of thousands of packages have been made with this," he said. "It was very unusual."
Mr. Bellamy said that Celotex will be replaced with a polyurethane foam in future containers.
Reach Rob Pavey at (706) 868-1222, ext. 119, or rob.pavey@augustachronicle.com.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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another hard day's night for the beetles.
birth of the Super Bettle... an urban legend! Sorta like Atom Ant
Perhaps we can use the beetles to dispose of plutonium, thereby ending the big-government black hole called MOX. Plutonium chomping beetles would not be a huge drain on the tax payer like Shaw Area MOX Services (SHAMS).
The reality will be Super Ninja Beatles instead of Super Ninja Turtles. I just hope they fight the injustices of socialism.
Sounds like the premise for a bad sci-fi movie!
Those terrorists are smart! Training beetles to undermine our nuclear security is pure evil genius.
Sounds like a major problem for the nuclear field to me.
"Tiny beetles," sounds like Don Ho trying to sing HIS song after he's had a couple of drinks.
Talk about slacking off..