Fire prompts evacuation at US nuclear waste repository, ‘multiple employees’ to hospital

CARLSBAD, N.M. – Emergency crews are battling a fire in the U.S. government’s underground nuclear waste repository.

Officials say a truck hauling salt caught fire about Wednesday morning at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico.

According to a press release and a spokeswoman who answered the emergency line, all employees have been evacuated and none of the radioactive waste has been affected.

But a press release says “multiple employees” are being taken to a hospital for potential smoke inhalation.

Emergency officials say all waste handling operations are suspended and rescue teams have been activated.

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