The Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina enacted an emergency response early this week when a vehicle attempting to enter a secure area activated explosive detection systems.
Site barricades remained open through the duration of the emergency response Tuesday morning and there was “no indication of a consequence beyond the Savannah River Site boundaries,” according to the first of two press releases on the event, issued at 10:05 a.m.
Law enforcement officials investigated the vehicle and gave the all clear, the site said in a second release at 12:53 p.m.
The second release references a return to normal operations, indicating work had been limited to some degree during the incident. But site officials declined to confirm what work was put on pause.
Media personnel at the 310-square-mile site near Aiken, S.C. also would not confirm how exactly the vehicle triggered explosive detection devices. It was there for “routine work,” according to the site.
“Protecting workers, the public, the environment and national security interests are our highest goals at the Savannah River Site,” the second release says.
The Savannah River Site receives an annual budget of more than $2 billion, and conducts work for the Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) and semiautonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA).
The site’s EM work largely includes the treatment of more than 35 million gallons of highly radioactive liquid waste, generated from weapons production during the Cold War. That mission includes the cleaning and closing of 40-plus underground waste tanks, and the temporary storage of treated waste on site until the U.S. decides on a permanent repository.
Under the NNSA, site work includes tritium production for the U.S. Department of Defense, and the processing of spent nuclear fuel, which reduces the threat of the materials being used to create weapons.
