Savannah River National Laboratory in US’ South Carolina
Highway 125 remains open at this time. Traffic restrictions have since been lifted after the fire was extinguished and officials confirmed that radiological surveys detected no contamination outside the site. “A fire was reported at the Savannah River National Laboratory but has since been extinguished.
SRS officials are directing response efforts and have notified the appropriate state and local government agencies,” the site said in a statement. Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the confirmation of no contamination beyond the site was reassuring. Radiological surveys indicated no detectable levels of contamination. The laboratory, located in the north-western part of the site, conducts experiments involving nuclear materials and processes radioactive substances. It also operates a facility that recovers radioisotopes from used nuclear fuel. However, he stressed the need for caution when fires occur in facilities handling radioactive materials.
A fire at the Savannah River National Laboratory in US’ South Carolina triggered a site-area emergency on Wednesday, disrupting road, rail and air movement around the nuclear facility.