A fire in a room at the Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina has triggered an emergency response at the Savannah River Site complex of the US Department of Energy. The alarm was raised at 5:39 p.m. local time, and the fire was later extinguished.
Local television station WRDW reported that an “unfiltered radiological release at ground level” was recorded in the incident. The specific terminology describes the occurrence of a serious emergency situation at a nuclear facility, in which radioactive substances are released directly into the environment, without passing through protective filters and from the lowest possible point.
The type and amount of radioactive material released were not specified. A statement from the “Savannah River Site“ said: “There is no evidence of contamination outside the affected facility.“
A state of emergency has been declared in the area of the facility due to the incident. Employees in the affected areas have been evacuated as a precaution, and the entrances to the complex have been closed to incoming traffic. Rail, river and air transport in the area are also temporarily restricted. The restrictions were in place while crews worked to contain the situation.
The Associated Press confirmed that the fire broke out at the Savannah River National Laboratory, located in the northwest part of the complex. The agency said there were no reports of contamination outside the affected building.
At 9:18 p.m. local time on October 28, the complex's emergency management organization reported that there were no active operational emergencies and that traffic through all barriers had been restored. Workers on the next shift were instructed to report to work as usual.
The Savannah River Site covers about 310 square miles in Aiken, Barnwell and Allendale counties. The facility was created in the 1950s to produce plutonium-239 and tritium for the U.S. nuclear program. Today, activities are carried out there on the management of nuclear materials and waste, cleanup of contaminated sites and scientific research.
At the moment, there is no published data on casualties, the cause of the fire or measured radiation levels in the affected room. It has not been reported what material was involved in the registered radiological release.
Sources: wrdw.com, live5news.com, apnews.com