13.5 Tons Of Cengkeh Contaminated Cs-137 Will Be Destroyed Next Year

Screenshot - Minister of Environment/Head of BPLH Hanif Faisol Nurofiq in a working meeting with Commission XII DPR RI in Jakarta, Wednesday (3/12/2025) ANTARA/Prisca Triferna

JAKARTA - Minister of Environment (LH) Hanif Faisol Nurofiq ensured that the cloves contaminated with Cesium (Cs)-137 radioactive substances returned to Indonesia will be destroyed next year.

The destruction was carried out after the government previously completed the destruction of imported contaminated shrimp products from the United States.

Hanif said that the export clove products that were detected to be contaminated had arrived back in the country in the last few days.

"Today the clove has returned to Indonesia after being imported with a total of 13.5 tons. We will schedule the destruction next year," said Hanif at a Working Meeting with Commission XII of the DPR in Jakarta, Antara, Wednesday, December 3.

The Cs-137 Handling Task Force has conducted a thorough search at two main points, namely the area of origin of the cloves in Lampung and the location of the shipments in Surabaya, East Java.

In South Lampung, radioactive exposure was not found, in contrast to the findings of contamination in the Cikande Modern Industrial Estate, Banten. Instead, exposure was detected in the cemetery area, which has now gone through a decontamination process.

Meanwhile, in Surabaya, radioactive exposure was detected on November 2, 2025, in containers belonging to PT JNS with a presentation rate of 0.02 to 0.12 microSievert per hour.

Regarding the handling in Cikande, Hanif explained that decontamination in 12 red zones had been carried out and declared safe by the Nuclear Energy Supervisory Agency (Bapeten). However, there is still one resident's house that requires further handling, and the occupants have been relocated.

Hanif also highlighted the issue of storing radionuclide waste which amounted to 1,136.6 tons. The waste is still accommodated in storage facilities owned by PT PMT whose capacity is almost full.

"Because of its very long nature, the active period is more than 60 years, adequate storage space is needed," he said.

He hopes that the support of Commission XII of the DPR will encourage coordination with the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) and Bapeten so that the handling of radioactive waste can be carried out comprehensively.

Sebelumnya, Satgas Penanganan Cs-137 telah memusnahkan 494 karton udang milik PT BMS yang dikembalikan dari Amerika Serikat setelah dinyatakan mengandung kontaminasi radioaktif.

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Previously, the Cs-137 Handling Task Force had destroyed 494 cartons of shrimp belonging to PT BMS returned from the United States after being declared to contain radioactive contamination.