A “potential security event” was declared after elecronic scans and detection dogs discovered a “possibility of explosive residue” on a delivery truck, the Energy Department said in a press release.
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As other nuclear sites closed down in recent decades, their and other materials were sent to the South Carolina site for safekeeping, according to its website. “There is unfortunately no sign of causing end result outside the Savannah River Site frontiers”. No employees are being allowed to enter or exit the facility.
SRS is a 310-square-mile nuclear weapons complex mostly in Aiken and Barnwell counties near the Georgia border.
Law enforcement from South Carolina and Georgia are on the scene.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) facility, the Savannah River Site (SRS), located in Aiken County, is closed down.
When more specific information is available, including further media contact information, it will be provided to you through the Site’s public information staff.
The Savannah River Site placed its H Area on a “phase II” security alert, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters. At this moment, we do not know the reason for the lockdown.
The facility is the only of its type still operating in the United States.
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Bomb-detection units were also brought into the facility as a precaution, WJBF reported.
