Fire Hits Australian Reactor Lab

SYDNEY, Australia — Fire erupted at Australia’s only nuclear reactor complex today, releasing radioactive material and contaminating two workers, but federal officials said the radiation was far below the limits that would threaten safety and posed no danger.

Firefighters were banned from getting close to the blaze at the Lucas Heights Nuclear Research Laboratory. The fire broke out at 5:30 p.m. in an area used to process medical isotopes and burned itself out in less than an hour.