Nuclear alarmBathroom air freshener triggers emergency response at nuclear weapons complex

Published 11 November 2016

Late in the afternoon on Wednesday of last week officials at the nuclear weapons complex declared an emergency after finding what they regarded as a suspicious device in a bathroom at the Savannah River National Laboratory in South Carolina. Emergency teams determined that the suspicious device was an air freshener wrapped in paper towels with a flashing light on it.

An air freshener caused quite a scare last week at the Savannah River Site (SRS).

Late in the afternoon on Wednesday of last week officials at the nuclear weapons complex declared an emergency after finding what they regarded as a suspicious device in a bathroom at the Savannah River National Laboratory, a research area at SRS. Emergency teams treated the item as potentially explosive.

The Miami Herald reports that the emergency teams determined that the item was an air freshener wrapped in paper towels with a flashing light on it. Site spokesman Jim Giusti said the facility quickly declared the item “non-threatening’’ and returned operations to normal.

Giusti, who is with the U.S. Department of Energy, said SRS is trying to determine why the air freshener was displayed that way.

“People reported a suspicious object and we responded based on all our training,’’ Giusti said. “It is a standard type of air freshener we use in the building. We don’t know why it was wrapped in paper towels. That’s going to be an ongoing issue for us to evaluate tomorrow when we talk to people.’’

The Savannah River Site is a heavily guarded atomic weapons complex near Aiken in western South Carolina. The 310-square miles site contains large amounts of nuclear material. Much of the site is now undergoing post-Cold War cleanup.

“The All-Clear has been given at SRS,’’ a 5:40 p.m. agency news release said. “A suspicious item was discovered at the Savannah River National Laboratory which prompted the emergency response activities. After thorough investigation, the suspicious item was determined to be non-threatening and the site has been returned to normal operations.’’