Officials declared a state of emergency after a fire broke out Wednesday afternoon at a Department of Energy nuclear facility laboratory near Aiken, South Carolina.
The incident occurred at the Savannah River Site (SRS) Savannah River National Laboratory, and Fox News reported that SRS at one point imposed restrictions on rail, river and air traffic in the area.
SRS noted in a social media post that the regional state of emergency was declared just after 5 p.m. but ended before 10 p.m.
“Containment measures have been lifted and on-site barricades have been reopened. A fire was reported at Savannah River National Laboratory but was extinguished. Radiological investigations revealed no detectable contamination levels,” the post read.
“Highway 125 remains open at this time. SRS officials are directing response efforts and appropriate state and local government agencies have been notified. Workers on the upcoming shift should report to work as normal and all other employees should report to work as scheduled on Thursday, October 29,” it continued.
The Fox article stated that the incident resulted in one worker suffering minor injuries and being sent to the hospital.
“The Savannah River Site is a U.S. Department of Energy critical industrial site responsible for environmental management, environmental cleanup, nuclear waste management, and nuclear materials disposal,” the SRS website reads:
In the 1950s, SRS began producing materials for nuclear weapons, primarily tritium and plutonium-239. Five reactors and support facilities were built to produce these nuclear materials. The irradiated material is transferred from the reactor to one of two chemical separation plants. In these facilities, known as “canyons,” irradiated fuel and target components are chemically processed to separate useful products from waste. After refining, the nuclear material is shipped to other DOE locations for final applications. Between 1953 and 1988, SRS produced approximately 36 metric tons of plutonium.
The Associated Press (AP) interviewed Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, about the incident.
“It’s reassuring, Lyman said, that officials say no off-site contamination has occurred, noting that there is a buffer zone between most facilities and common areas. But if a fire breaks out and there is radioactive material there, ‘you need to take extreme precautions because that material could spread, could cause contamination, and the public could be exposed to radiation,'” he said, the outlet reported.