Three workers at the Savannah River Site (SRS) in South Carolina were exposed to radioactive material when contamination spread beyond a restricted laboratory area, according to a federal safety report. Alarms sounded as the workers attempted to leave the facility, and tests detected radioactive material on the soles of their shoes emitting between 80,000 and 300,000 disintegrations per minute, levels exceeding federal contamination limits.
The incident occurred at the U.S. Department of Energy's Savannah River Site, a sprawling complex vital to America's nuclear stockpile, which processes tritium and manages plutonium infrastructure. The event was detailed in a safety report covering the week ending June 26 but was not publicly announced by site officials at the time.
Investigators determined that contamination had spread outside designated containment areas but could not ascertain the precise origin or pathway of the material. Officials reported that the three workers were decontaminated and showed no evidence of inhaling or absorbing radioactive material.
The report also revealed a separate safety lapse at SRS during the same week, where an operator began transferring radioactive liquid without first adding a chemical required to prevent corrosion in nuclear-waste tanks. A control-room manager intervened and stopped the transfer 30 minutes into the process. Investigations into this incident found that a recent change in the transfer procedure had led to the operator misunderstanding the timing for adding the necessary chemical.
SRS, established in the early 1950s, historically focused on producing plutonium and tritium for nuclear weapons. Since 1992, its mission has shifted to environmental cleanup, nuclear materials management, and research and development. The site has generated significant volumes of liquid nuclear waste, with millions of gallons still managed in underground tanks.
This incident follows a discovery in July 2025, when a radioactive wasp nest was found near liquid nuclear waste tanks at the same site. Radiation levels from the nest were reported to be 10 times higher than federal limits, though officials stated there was no indication of leaks from the underground tanks. The nest was subsequently removed and disposed of as radioactive waste. Site officials attributed the discovery to legacy contamination from decades of nuclear weapons production.