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By Anna Commander
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Savannah River Site (SRS) officials say there are no detectable levels of contamination following a fire at the Savannah River National Laboratory on Wednesday evening.
A site emergency was first declared in the 5 p.m. ET hour at the site near Aiken, South Carolina, and the fire has since been extinguished, SRS said in an update.
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As of 9:45 p.m. ET, the emergency was terminated and protective actions have been lifted, including site barricades.
SRS said in a 7:30 p.m. ET update in part: "As a precaution, barricades at site entrances have been closed to incoming traffic. Rail, river, and air traffic in the vicinity of SRS is also being restricted. SRS officials are directing response efforts and have notified the appropriate state and local government agencies."
Residents in the vicinity were previously urged to monitor local television and radio broadcasts for any actions state officials could announce.
SRS said in the latest update that Highway 125 is open, and officials are directing response efforts. Employees should still report to work "as usual" for the oncoming shift, the update says, adding that workers should also report for scheduled shifts on Thursday.
Newsweek reached out to the Department of Energy (DOE) on Wednesday night for comment.
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SRS is described as a national nuclear security administration site, according to its website.
It was constructed in the 1950s to produce materials used in nuclear weapons, primarily plutonium-239 and tritium, the site says. Five reactors were built there, including two chemical separation plants, a heavy water extraction plant, a tritium extraction facility and a nuclear fuel and target fabrication area, along with waste management facilities.
Aiken is roughly 20 miles northeast of Augusta, Georgia.
Republican Senator Darline Graham commented about the incident on X Wednesday night, saying that she is, "Relieved to learn the emergency order has been lifted."
"I’m grateful for the quick actions of first responders and pray for the safety of anyone who may have been affected by the fire," she added. Graham said that she plans to continue monitoring developments and that her office is in contact with SRS officials and the DOE.
This is a developing story that will be updated with additional information.
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Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here. Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Edward T. Cummins
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