Oregon Public Broadcasting

Scientists in South Carolina are investigating how tiny beetles got into plutonium storage and shipping containers at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

The lead researcher says they worried the bugs might eat away the packing that cushions the plutonium,but that the infestation posed no danger. Correspondent Anna King reports.

When weapons-grade plutonium gets shipped from one federal site to another, it's packaged very, very carefully.

Steve Bellamy is one of the top scientists in charge of designing those packages. So you can imagine his surprise two years ago when Hanford Nuclear Reservation officials found tiny beetles inside the packing material of two of those canisters.

The bugs are called drugstore beetles and are about the size of the tip of a pen. Bellamy has determined the beetles are not dangerous to the safety of the package and are not a widespread problem.

Steve Bellamy: “We've opened thousands of packages and only two have shown to have this infestation.”

Bellamy says the beetles didn't come in contact with any plutonium. The canisters were empty. He thinks beetle eggs were laid in the glue or packing material before the canisters were made.