Indonesia races to determine extent of radioactive contamination at industrial zone

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By Dewi Kurniawati and Gayatri Suroyo

JAKARTA (Reuters) -Indonesia’s nuclear agency is still determining the size of the area affected by radioactive contamination linked to a scrap metal plant, with 10 points in an industrial zone near Jakarta found with high levels of exposure, officials said on Thursday.   

The contamination was first detected in a batch of shrimp shipped to the United States in August by a local company also based in the Modern Cikande Industrial Estate, after which Indonesia began sweeping scans there.

“Hopefully, by early next week we will know the total size of the contaminated area,” said Bara Hasibuan, a spokesperson for the investigation into the incident, adding Indonesia’s nuclear agency would make that determination. 

“We’re not taking this lightly. For us, this is serious.”

A scrap metal factory owned by foreign investors is being treated as the epicentre of the contamination, documents obtained by Reuters show, confirmed by another official.

Indonesia said this week it was providing updates on the probe to the global nuclear watchdog and the United States.

The same contaminant was also found in a shipment of cloves last week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said.

Caesium 137 is present in the environment mainly from nuclear testing or accidents, like Chernobyl and Fukushima, according to the FDA’s website. Indonesia has no nuclear weapons or nuclear power plants.

RADIATION IN MORE LOCATIONS

Indonesian authorities have found 10 points with radionuclide radiation for Caesium 137, Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq told Reuters, up from the initial six locations. The estate is still operating, but under close monitoring. 

“We have declared PT PMT (Peter Metal Technology) as the epicentre with a 5 km perimeter,” Nurofiq said, adding a special incident status had been imposed at the estate.

He said movement had been limited there and teams of police, military and religious leaders were going door-to-door to inform people of the danger and ways to avoid it. 

Authorities examined over 1,500 local people and workers and found nine were exposed, spokesperson Hasibuan said, adding those had undergone special medical treatment. 

Decontamination measures were being taken and special equipment used on trucks entering and leaving to ensure they were free of contamination, he said.  

PT PMT deals with non-ferrous base metal manufacturing and grinding, and set up in the estate two years ago, according to Indonesia’s law ministry registry reviewed by Reuters.

The nationality of the investors is not clear in the document, but it was set up by foreign direct investment. The company did not immediately respond to questions sent by Reuters to a cellphone number listed in the registry.

The estate, 68 km from Jakarta, covers 3,175 hectares and contains more than 270 local and foreign companies, in areas from food processing to automotive components, according to its website.

(Reporting by Dewi Kurniawati, Gayatri Suroyo, and Stefanno Sulaiman; Writing by Gibran Peshimam; Editing by Andrea Ricci)