Officials declared an emergency alert Tuesday at Georgia’s largest nuclear plant after an electrical transformer caught fire.
“An alert was declared at the Vogtle Electric nuclear power facility in Burke County, Georgia, on Tuesday afternoon. While officials initially did not provide a reason for the alert, they assured the public in a press release that there was no danger. Later, it was confirmed that a fire had broken out in an area away from the reactors,” Rawsalerts wrote.
“Georgia Power stated that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), along with local and state agencies, had been notified about the alert. It remains unclear if anyone has been injured,” the post added.
🚨#BREAKING: An alert was declared at the Vogtle Electric nuclear power plant earlier this afternoon due to an unknown emergency⁰⁰📌#BurkeCounty | #Georgia
An alert was declared at the Vogtle Electric nuclear power facility in Burke County, Georgia, on Tuesday afternoon. While… pic.twitter.com/4QO95EjcWF
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) August 13, 2024
Newsweek reports:
According to Georgia Power Co., the alert was issued at 12 p.m. ET for a fire at the Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in Burke County, Georgia. A spokesperson for the energy company, John Kraft, told the Associated Press (AP) that the fire impacted a transformer that supplies electricity to one of the plant’s units. The alert was issued for Units 1 and 2 at the plant.
The fire and alert were not a threat to public safety, per Georgia Power Co.’s press release on the matter. Officials fully extinguished the fire and the alert was lifted at 2:36 p.m. ET.
A spokesperson for Georgia Power told Newsweek over the phone Tuesday that no injuries occurred in connection to the fire and that there was no risk to the reactor units under the alert or to the plant itself.
NO INJURIES: A fire Tuesday at Georgia's largest nuclear plant forced an emergency alert. The fire broke out about noon and was put out by Vogtle plant employees. https://t.co/YboX9b4HbH
— Local 3 News (@Local3News) August 14, 2024
“There should be no danger to the public,” the company said in a news release, according to WJCL.
“You will not need to take any actions unless directed to by state and local officials,” it added.
The Burke County Emergency Management Agency reports some sort of alert level at Plant Vogtle. https://t.co/uEQmfyKrNz
— wtoc11 (@WTOC11) August 13, 2024
Per WJCL:
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission as well as state and local agencies have been notified. Among the four categories of emergencies designated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, an alert is the 2nd least serious.
“Our top priority is the safety and health of the public and our employees,” said Plant Vogtle 1&2 Site Vice President John Weissinger. “We will provide more details as soon as they are available, and we will continue to do so until this situation is safely resolved.”
“Plant Vogtle in Waynesboro, Georgia recently completed an expansion project making it the largest electricity generator in the United States,” the U.S. Department of Energy writes.
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