BREAKING NEWS: Fire ‘involving uranium’ breaks out at Tennessee Homeland Security Complex, forcing 200 employees to evacuate as official says no injuries, no contamination
A fire “involving uranium” broke out at a Homeland Security Complex in Tennessee and all personnel were evacuated from the site.
The National Nuclear Security Administration said an emergency response responded to the fire Wednesday morning at the Y-12 Homeland Security Complex in Oak Ridge.
All of its 200 employees were accounted for, and other buildings next to the site were evacuated as a precaution.
An NNSA spokesperson confirmed that the fire started at 9:15 a.m. at the federal facility and that the fire was confined to the site itself.
They added: ‘Emergency services responded to the event. The site activated the Y-12 Emergency Response Organization and we have been in close contact with local and state officials.
The National Nuclear Security Administration said an emergency response responded to the fire Wednesday morning at the Y-12 Homeland Security Complex in Oak Ridge.
“There are no reports of injuries or contamination.”
But they confirmed that they would test the employees if necessary, after the incident.
Building 9212 is listed on the Department of Energy website as a uranium processing building, built in 1945, and serves “as one of the principal Y-12-enriched uranium production and chemical processing facilities.”
Authorities confirmed that the material involved in the fire was a uranium metal compound.
Congressional representatives were notified of the emergency as part of that response and were reportedly “comfortable” with the response.
At around 1 p.m., officials announced that the rest of the complex was back to business as usual, but did not confirm whether the fire had been extinguished.
