A fire at the heart of US nuclear facilities A fire at the Savannah River National Laboratory released radioactive materials without passing through filtration systems, leading to an evacuation order. According to the emergency dispatch center, a fire broke out in one of the rooms of the Savannah River National Laboratory, located in the nuclear weapons complex of the US Department of Energy in the state of South Carolina. This complex has an area of about 310 square kilometers. Reports indicate that during this event, radioactive materials were released onto the ground without passing through the building's filters.