This organic, wheat-based kitty litter caused a nuclear waste leak

If you're trying to stabilize nuclear waste, don't use organic kitty litter.

That's the take-away of a 277-page report, just released by the Department of Energy (DOE), on a radioactive leak that occurred at the underground Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) east of Carlsbad, New Mexico, on Feb. 14, 2014.

Investigators confirmed that a 55-gallon metal drum of nuclear waste burst open after it was packed with the wrong kind of cat litter, as had been suspected since last year

SEE ALSO: Nuclear security - best & worst countries (infographic)

Kitty litter isn't just used to absorb urine; it's long been used for industrial purposes, too. Traditional cat litter is usually made from inorganic silicates that can stabilize nitrate salts found in nuclear waste, James Conca explained in Forbes last year. Read more...

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