Emergency declared after fire at South Carolina nuclear lab, officials say

• A site area emergency was declared at 5:39 p.m. Wednesday after a fire broke out at the Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina.
• One employee was hospitalized with minor injuries, according to the Department of Energy spokesperson quoted by Fox News.
• The fire was extinguished, and no radiological contamination was reported, officials said.

A Site Area Emergency was declared Wednesday at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina after a fire broke out at the Savannah River National Laboratory near Aiken, officials said.

The emergency was declared at 5:39 p.m. local time on Oct. 28, according to the Savannah River Site's official emergency update.

The fire was extinguished, and one employee was taken to a hospital with minor injuries, a Department of Energy spokesperson told Fox News. No radiological contamination was reported, the spokesperson said.

Authorities temporarily restricted access to the site, including rail, river and air traffic in the surrounding area. Site entrances were barricaded as a precaution, while some workers were instructed to shelter in place.

The restrictions were subsequently lifted, with traffic at site entrances resuming and affected shift workers allowed to return to their regular duties, according to the site's official emergency notifications.

The Savannah River Site later said there were no ongoing operational emergencies or scheduled delays following the incident. Officials were coordinating the response, and relevant state and local agencies had been notified.

Residents were advised to monitor local radio and television broadcasts for further information and any instructions from state authorities.

The Savannah River Site is a major installation within the US nuclear weapons complex. For more than 75 years, it has supported the country's strategic deterrence mission and managed nuclear materials and radioactive waste, according to the US Department of Energy.

Built in the 1950s, the site initially housed five reactors designed to produce materials for nuclear weapons, particularly tritium and plutonium-239. It also included chemical separation facilities.

The installation continues to support US national security and nuclear-material management, alongside environmental cleanup operations.