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Meme Lord
Panic as radioactive material released in raging fire at South Carolina nuclear complex
Radioactive material was released after a fire broke out at the Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina, sparking an area emergency declaration. The fire has reportedly been extinguished.
Radioactive material was released after a raging fire broke out at a nuclear complex in South Carolina, sparking local panic.
A site area emergency was declared at the federal nuclear complex in the Palmetto State. The fire has reportedly been extinguished.
Officials called the emergency at 5:39 p.m. on Wednesday after a fire broke out in a single room at the Savannah River National Laboratory near Aiken, the site wrote on its official X page.
The authorities told local station WRDW that there was "an unfiltered, ground-level radiological release.
They emphasized that no contamination was reported outside the impacted facility, and there has been no indication of consequences beyond the site's boundaries.
Nevertheless, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a flight restriction, citing a U.S. government "nuclear incident" at the site.
"Local residents should tune in to local radio and TV stations where state officials will announce any actions citizens may need to take. Residents should stay tuned to these stations for updated instructions."
The cause of the fire and the nature and amount of material released, as well as whether anyone was injured, all remain unclear.
The SRS is located on about 310 square miles of land along the South Carolina-Georgia border.
It was built in the 1950s and produced plutonium and tritium for nuclear weapons during the Cold War, but its work is now focused on nuclear materials management, environmental cleanup and research.
