As Wildfire Grows Near Ex-Nuclear Site, California County Sets Up Radiation Air Monitors
Key takeaways
- The Sandy Fire’s roughly quarter-of-a-mile proximity to the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, or SSFL, prompted at least one family to evacuate when the blaze began Monday.
- Nuclear research ended at the site in 1988 and rocket testing stopped in 2006.
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Republish Firefighters work to combat a hotspot in the hills while the Sandy Fire continues to burn near a residential area on Wednesday in Simi Valley, Calif. Credit: Apu Gomes/AFP via Getty Images Related Prescribed Burns and Forest Thinning Averted Millions of Tons of Emissions and Billions in Damages Wildfire Crews Race to Keep Fierce California Blaze From Former Nuclear Reactor Site Two Years After Completion, Plant Vogtle Still Looms Over the Nuclear Debate Share This Article Republish Most Popular Wildfire Crews Race to Keep Fierce California Blaze From Former Nuclear Reactor Site What to Expect as El Niño Approaches EPA Claims ‘Overwhelming Rejection’ of EVs as It Moves to Loosen Air Pollution Rules With a Southern California wildfire only growing in size, firefighters in Ventura County have increased response efforts near a former nuclear reactor and rocket testing site.
The Sandy Fire’s roughly quarter-of-a-mile proximity to the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, or SSFL, prompted at least one family to evacuate when the blaze began Monday.
Nuclear research ended at the site in 1988 and rocket testing stopped in 2006. The defunct, 2,800-acre federal research complex—once jointly occupied by NASA, the Department of Energy and Boeing—still has radioactive and chemical contamination. Boeing has owned the site since 1996.