Emergency declared at South Carolina nuclear site after fire breaks out at laboratory
- Fire extinguished; no contamination has been reported outside affected facility, says US Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site
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- Fire extinguished; no contamination has been reported outside affected facility, says US Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site
By Diyar Guldogan
WASHINGTON (AA) - The US Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina declared a Site Area Emergency on Wednesday following a fire at the Savannah River National Laboratory.
The emergency was declared at 5.39 pm local time (2139GMT), according to a statement from the site, located near Aiken.
"A fire was reported at the Savannah River National Laboratory but has since been extinguished. No contamination has been reported outside the affected facility," it said on the US social media platform X.
Earlier, SRS said an event was in progress that "triggered emergency response activities" at the site.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a temporary flight restriction, citing a US government “nuclear incident” at the site.
The cause of the fire, the type and quantity of any material released, and whether there were any injuries remain unknown.
The SRS is a major installation in the nation’s weapons complex that has supported the US military’s strategic deterrence mission for more than 75 years, according to the SRS website.
Diyar Güldoğan