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Savannah River Site Declares Emergency After Lab Fire

By Drooid · Oct 29, 2026 · How we work

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Summary

The Savannah River Site declared a Site Area Emergency after a laboratory fire near Aiken on October 28.
One employee suffered minor injuries and was taken to a hospital.
Authorities closed site entrances, halted rail and river traffic, and imposed a 15-nautical-mile FAA flight restriction to 10,000 feet.
Officials said a ground-level radiological release occurred, but surveys found no contamination and the emergency level was lowered at 9:45 p.m.

History

The March 28 1979 partial melt at Three Mile Island forced the NRC to require continuous radiation monitoring, a shift that coincided with the cancellation of 52 U.S. reactors in the early 1980s. When a laboratory fire at the Savannah River Site released ground-level radioactivity on October 28, officials applied those TMI protocols to seal the area and halt air traffic.

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The March 28 1979 partial melt at Three Mile Island forced the NRC to require continuous radiation monitoring, a shift that coincided with the cancellation of 52 U.S. reactors in the early 1980s. When a laboratory fire at the Savannah River Site released ground-level radioactivity on October 28, officials applied those TMI protocols to seal the area and halt air traffic.

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