October 14, 2025 | 11:04 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Cesium-137 Handling Task Force stated that it is still investigating the source of radioactive exposure in scrap metal that contaminated Indonesia's exported shrimp products.
"There are no conclusions at all. It's still in progress," said Bara Krishna Hasibuan, Head of the Diplomacy and Communications Division of the Cesium-137 Task Force, in Jakarta on Monday, October 13, 2025.
Bara explained that the shrimp products belonging to PT Bahari Makmur Sejahtera (BMS), which were repatriated from the Port of Los Angeles, United States, were contaminated by radioactive material from the steel smelting plant of PT Peter Metal Technology (PT PMT), located in the same industrial complex in Cikande, Serang, Banten.
The smelted cesium-137 is suspected to have formed fine particulates and spread to several airborne regions, including PT BMS. Therefore, Bara emphasized that it was not the smelting activity that produced the radioactive material, but rather the contaminated scrap.
Bara stated that the task force is still investigating the case of radioactive cesium-137 contamination in several shrimp shipments from Indonesia, which has been elevated to the Indonesian National Police Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim). He emphasized that there is a possibility that this case could result in criminal charges.
Bara said that the police have not yet sought an explanation from the owner of PT PMT regarding the radioactive contamination from the industrial facility. This is because, Bara explained, the factory had closed before the contamination case was revealed. "The owner has already left and returned to his country," he said.
He stated that information from the factory owner is key to determining the cause of the radioactive contamination of the scrap metal.
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