Not Just Shrimp and Cloves, Indonesian Footwear Exports to US Are Also Contaminated with Radioactive Cs-137

Head Of Diplomacy And Communication Division Of The Handling Task Force Cs-137 Bara Krishna Hasibuan/ANTARA

JAKARTA - Bara Krishna Hasibuan, Head of the Diplomacy and Communications Division of the Cs-137 Handling Task Force, revealed that in addition to shrimp and cloves, Indonesian footwear exported to the United States has also been detected as contaminated with the radioactive substance Cesium-137 (Cs-137).

"There has been a finding of Cs-137 contamination in footwear," Bara said in a media briefing titled "Developments in Diplomacy Handling Shrimp and Clove Products with Stakeholders in the United States," at the Coordinating Ministry for Food Affairs Office in Jakarta, Antara reported on Wednesday, November 12.

Bara explained that the United States had returned two containers of footwear to Indonesia after inspections revealed radioactive contamination.

After investigation, the products were found to originate from a company in Cikande, Banten, located outside the industrial area, but still within a five-kilometer radius of the source of contamination at the PT PMT facility.

"The first container arrived in Indonesia last month and has not yet been processed by the manufacturer. The second container arrived on October 29 with a notification of Cs-137 contamination," he said.

The Nuclear Energy Regulatory Agency (Bapeten) has inspected the second container and confirmed no contamination on its surface, declaring the container safe for storage at the port. However, further testing of the container's contents, namely footwear, is currently being conducted by the National Agency for Research and Innovation (BRIN).

Bara confirmed that the decontamination process in the Cikande area has been completed and all 22 factories exposed to Cs-137 have been declared clean, including the footwear factory that exports products to the United States.

"We have cleaned everything; it's clean and clear; it's fully decontaminated. This footwear is new information, but the incident actually occurred almost simultaneously," he said.

The Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) confirmed that all facilities in the Cikande Modern Industrial Estate (MCIE), Serang, Banten, have been decontaminated, while seven locations outside the area are still undergoing the cleaning process.

Decontamination was carried out by the Cs-137 Radiation Hazard Management Task Force in conjunction with various agencies, including Bapeten. Previously, Dutch Customs also reported findings of radionuclide contamination in sneakers from Indonesia, which were later confirmed by the Dutch Radiation Authority (ANVS).

The examination results showed radiation exposure reaching 110 nanoSieverts per hour, far above the normal background radiation of 20 nanoSieverts per hour, due to the presence of Cs-137.