Emergency declared at South Carolina nuclear site after lab fire

The US department of energy’s Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina declared a site area emergency on Wednesday following a fire at the Savannah River National Laboratory, Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported.

The site, located near Aiken, declared the emergency at 5.39pm local time (2139GMT), according to a statement.

“A fire was reported at the Savannah River National Laboratory but has since been extinguished. No contamination has been reported outside the affected facility,” it said on social media platform X.

Earlier, SRS said an event was in progress that “triggered emergency response activities” at the site.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a temporary flight restriction, citing a US government “nuclear incident” at the site.

The cause of the fire, the type and quantity of any material released, and whether anyone was injured remain unknown.

The SRS is a major installation in the nation’s weapons complex that has supported the US military’s strategic deterrence mission for more than 75 years, according to the SRS website.