Jakarta (ANTARA) - The government has begun decontaminating radioactive Cesium-137 (Cs-137) at two sites in the Cikande Modern Industrial Estate, Serang, Banten, with cleanup efforts ongoing at several other locations.Rasio Ridho Sani, Deputy for Pollution and Environmental Damage Control at the Ministry of Environment, said that 10 sites had been identified as contaminated by Cs-137 radiation.
As of October 2, the government task force handling the radiation hazard had removed 20 drums, 17 jumbo bags, and three pallets of contaminated material. Decontamination is being carried out under the supervision of the Nuclear Energy Regulatory Agency (Bapeten) to ensure worker safety and prevent further radiation exposure.
Contaminated material with high radiation levels was excavated using heavy equipment and moved to PT Peter Metal Technology (PMT)'s interim storage facility.
"The government is committed to intensively implementing mitigation and contamination management efforts in Cikande," Sani said.
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Earlier, Cs-137 contamination was reportedly found in frozen shrimp products exported by PT Bahari Makmur Sejati (BMS) to the United States, according to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Authorities subsequently sealed PMT's facility, suspected to be the source of radioactive contamination in the shrimp products.
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In late September, Coordinating Minister for Food Zulkifli Hasan confirmed that the Cs-137 contamination was confined to the industrial estate and did not affect the national supply chain or exports.
The Ministry of Health has screened 1,562 workers within a 5-kilometer radius of the area. Those identified with potential exposure have been treated with Prussian Blue, a medication that removes Cs-137 from the body.
