October 23, 2025 | 10:22 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Task Force (Satgas) for Handling the Vulnerability of Radionuclide Radiation Danger Cesium-137 (Cs-137) in the Cikande Industrial Area, Serang Regency, Banten Province, has temporarily relocated 63 residents in the Red Zone (F2) in Kampung Barengkok, Sukatani Village. The 63 individuals are from 19 households.
"The next step, phase II, will continue the relocation in the Red Zone (E) in Kampung Barengkok, Sukatani Village, involving 8 households, totaling 28 people," said Rasio Ridho Sani, the Deputy for Pollution Control and Environmental Damage Management of the Ministry of Environment, in a written statement on Thursday, October 23, 2025.
According to Rasio, who also serves as the Chair of the Mitigation and Contamination Handling Division in the task force, the relocation is necessary to protect the health and safety of residents living in high radiation areas, or red zones. It will also accelerate decontamination efforts.
"It is also intended to minimize the airborne spread of Cs-137 radiation during decontamination activities for the health and safety of the community," Rasio added.
"Health examinations are carried out by the BRIN Team and the Health Team from the Ministry of Health at the Cikande Health Center, Serang," Rasio added.
These examinations include general physical check-ups, measurement of vital signs, and special screening to detect possible effects of radiation exposure. All examination results are documented thoroughly and will be used as the basic data for monitoring the residents' health.
"Once they are deemed safe and healthy, all residents will be placed in the relocation housing units near the Sukatani Village Office," said Yadi Priyadi, Head of the Social Service Agency of Serang Regency.
Acceleration of Decontamination
Rasio explained that the acceleration of the decontamination process continues both inside and outside the industrial area. Within the area, 20 out of 22 factories detected with Cesium-137 have been successfully decontaminated. "These 20 factories have been declared clean and clear by Bapeten and BRIN," Rasio said, adding that the other two factories are currently undergoing decontamination.
As for the progress of decontamination at 12 locations detected with Cs-137, 5 locations have been successfully decontaminated. "Two locations have received safe clearance from Bapeten, namely Locations A and D, while 3 locations are pending, namely L, H, and I." Up to this point, the total contaminated material that has been successfully removed and placed in Interim Storage at PT PMT inside the industrial area is 205.2 m3 or 325.7 tons.
Chief of the Biological Radioactive and Nuclear Chemical (BRN) at Mobile Brigade's (Brimob) Gegana Unit, Commissioner Yopie I Sepang, added that the government continues to control the mobility of contaminated materials.
"Control of the movement of contaminated materials in and out of the Cikande Modern Industrial Area is carried out through Radiation Portal Monitoring (RPM) under the control of the Collaboration Unit BRN Gegana Brimob and BRIN," Yopie said.
Since the operation of RPM on October 1, 2025, a total of 29,700 vehicles have been inspected, with 47 of them detected with Cs-137 and immediately decontaminated. "Since October 17, 2025, the monitoring results show that there are no more vehicles detected with radioactive Cesium-137 leaving the industrial area," Yopie stated.
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