A fire inside a laboratory at the Savannah River Site near Aiken led officials to declare a “site area emergency” Wednesday evening, Oct. 28. Site officials said there was no danger to the public outside the site’s boundaries, and the emergency has since been ended.
What happened
According to SRS, a fire broke out in a single room at the Savannah River National Laboratory and was reported at 5:39 p.m. The fire caused an unfiltered, ground-level radiological release, officials said.
The fire was put out. SRS said there was no indication of contamination beyond the site’s boundaries.
No injuries were reported.
Precautions taken
According to sources who spoke with WRDW, employees in the lab area, known as A Area, sheltered in place behind barricades for about 30 minutes before being allowed to leave.
As a precaution, SRS:
- Sheltered employees not involved in the emergency response
- Closed site entrances to incoming traffic
- Restricted nearby rail, river and air traffic
The FAA also put a temporary flight restriction in place over SRS and the surrounding area through midnight Thursday, covering a 15-nautical-mile radius up to 10,000 feet.
SRS officials said they notified state and local government agencies.
Emergency ended
SRS officials later terminated the site area emergency. The cause of the fire has not been released.
About the site
The Savannah River Site is a 310-square-mile U.S. Department of Energy complex covering parts of Aiken, Barnwell and Allendale counties. It was built in the 1950s to produce materials for nuclear weapons. Today, its work focuses mainly on environmental cleanup, managing nuclear materials and waste, and tritium operations.
The Savannah River National Laboratory, located on the site, conducts research on nuclear materials, environmental cleanup and related technologies.
Source: Savannah River Site, as reported by WRDW/FOX Carolina
