A small fire broke out in an elevator at a building at the Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant in Seabrook, N.H. Monday afternoon.

According to Seabrook Emergency Management Director Joseph Titone, the fire was brought under control quickly by personnel at the power plant. The Seabrook Fire Department did not respond.

The fire broke out at about 12:35 p.m. The power plant declared an “unusual event,” triggering a heightened state of alert among local and regional agencies.

An “unusual event” is the lowest alert for a nuclear power plant. No radioactive material escapes during such events. Boston.com reported there was no danger to workers or residents.

“An unusual event is anything that’s not part of the daily routine of the operation of the power plant,” Titone said. “By law, they have to declare an unusual event when something occurs, no matter how small it is.”

The “event” was declared over at 12:43 p.m.

WMUR-TV reported the fire broke out in a plant support building.

Early reports indicated there was an explosion, but a fire official in Seabrook said that no explosion had occurred.

The power plant, which contains a single reactor, is about 40 miles north of Boston and 10 miles south of Portsmouth, N.H. The reactor has been operating since 1990.

Credit to the sme2 Yahoo Group and all the guys listening to the scanners for being the ones to break this story

About The Author

John Guilfoil is the editor-in-chief of Blast: Boston's Online Magazine and the Blast Magazine Network. He can be reached at [email protected]. Tweet @johnguilfoil.

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