Bapeten Prevents 'Time Bomb' From Entering The Republic Of Indonesia, Recommends Radioactive Containers Returned To The Philippines

JAKARTA - The Nuclear Energy Supervisory Agency (Bapeten) together with the Directorate General of Customs and Excise at the Ministry of Finance again thwarted the entry of nine containers of imported goods contaminated with Cesium 137 (Cs-137) radioactive substances through Tanjung Priok Port.

The nine containers arrived in Indonesia some time ago. The Portal Monitor Radiation System (RPM) at the port detected an increase in the value of the radiation gap above the threshold, triggering an alarm of five containers out of a total of nine containers of imported products.

"Based on documents, imported containers contain zinc concentrate powders originating from the Philippines which should not have triggered an alarm in the RPM unit," said Head of the Legal, Cooperation and Public Communication Bureau of Bapeten Ishak in Jakarta, Antara, Monday, September 22.

Bapeten conducted additional examinations (secondary inspections) to confirm the results of the reading of the RPM and to find out the source of the radiation increase.

The results of the examination showed that all containers that triggered the alarm gave exposure to the rate of radiation doses up to 210 times the value of the background dose rate.

Further examination with radionuclide identification equipment revealed the presence of Cs-137 in containers.

"The swab test shows the outer wall of the container is free of contamination so that it can be ascertained that the Cs-137 nuclide is in the container," said Ishak.

Examination of four other containers that did not trigger an alarm also showed radiation exposure exceeded the value of the background dose rate with the identification of the same radionuclide.

"Based on the results of the examination, Bapeten recommends returning all containers to their home countries, namely the Philippines," he said.

Ishak menyebut Kantor Pelayanan Utama Bea Cukai Tanjung Priok bersama pihak importir akan segera memproses pengembalian seluruh kontainer terkontaminasi ke negara asal.

Sebelumnya, kolaborasi antara Bapeten dan Bea Cukai juga berhasil mencegah masuknya produk impor terkontaminasi Cs-137 ke tanah air pada 11 September 2025 dan telah dilakukan reekspor terhadap kontainer berisi produk impor terkontaminasi tersebut ke Filipina.

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Ishak said that the Tanjung Priok Customs Main Service Office together with importers would immediately process the return of all containers contaminated to their country of origin.

Previously, the collaboration between Bapeten and Customs and Excise also succeeded in preventing the entry of imported products contaminated with Cs-137 into the country on September 11, 2025 and exports of containers containing imported products contaminated into the Philippines.