Updated

Updated · WRDW · Oct 29

Savannah River Site Ends 4-Hour Emergency After Lab Fire Triggers Radiological Release

Updated

Updated · WRDW · Oct 29

Savannah River Site Ends 4-Hour Emergency After Lab Fire Triggers Radiological Release

Q: What sparked the Savannah River lab fire, and what was inside the facility when emergency crews locked down the area?

The cause of the fire had not been publicly identified in the reporting available, so officials had not said what sparked it. What was known is that the blaze broke out in a single room at the Savannah River National Laboratory and prompted a Site Area Emergency. Officials and local reporting said there was an “unfiltered ground-level radiological release,” but they also said no contamination was detected outside the affected facility and there was no indication of impacts beyond the site boundary. As for what was inside the facility, the available reports did not specify the exact materials in that room at the time of the fire. More broadly, Savannah River National Laboratory operates within the larger Savannah River Site, a Department of Energy complex that handles nuclear materials research, environmental cleanup, waste management and national security work. The wider site also stores and processes materials such as plutonium, spent nuclear fuel, tritium-related materials and radioactive waste in specialized areas, but the reports did not confirm which of those, if any, were in the room that caught fire. So the direct answer is that both the ignition source and the specific contents of the affected room were still unknown publicly when emergency crews locked down the area.

3 articles · Updated · WRDW · Oct 29

9:45 p.m., Savannah River Site terminated the Site Area Emergency declared at 5:07 p.m., lifting protective actions and reopening barricades after the incident at Savannah River National Laboratory.
A fire in a single room at the lab caused an unfiltered ground-level radiological release, but surveys found no detectable contamination and no indication it spread beyond the site boundary.
One employee was hospitalized with minor injuries, while workers in Area A sheltered in place for about 30 minutes and incoming traffic by road, rail, river and air was temporarily restricted.
The 310-square-mile Department of Energy site near Aiken stores and processes nuclear materials and radioactive waste, making emergency drills for radiological releases a routine part of operations.