By Jasper Ward
WASHINGTON, Oct 28 (Reuters) – A fire on Wednesday at a South Carolina complex that produced plutonium and tritium for nuclear weapons during the Cold War left one person with minor injuries, a US Department of Energy spokesperson said.
The spokesperson, citing officials at the Savannah River Site that includes the Savannah River National Laboratory where the fire was reported, said the fire was extinguished and no contamination has been reported. The spokesperson said the person injured was an employee who was taken to the hospital.
The Savannah River Site did not say what caused the fire.
The fire prompted a “site area emergency.” The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily restricted flights in the area because of the fire, according to its website. The Savannah River Site said rail, river and ground travel in the area also was restricted and that employees not involved in emergency response or shutdown operations were sheltered as a precaution.
After producing material for nuclear weapons during the Cold War, the Savannah River National Laboratory now focuses on waste cleanup and nuclear materials management.
It was built near Jackson, South Carolina, in the early 1950s.
(Reporting by Jasper Ward in Washington; editing by Donna Bryson)
