Workers at a dangerous and toxic waste disposal site operated by PT Prasadha Pamunah Limbah Industri preparing cardboard boxes of shrimp to be incinerated at the firm's facility in Bogor on Nov 15, 2025. - JP
JAKARTA: Indonesian authorities recently destroyed 5.7 tonnes of shrimp contaminated with Caesium 137. The shrimp were disposed at a dangerous and toxic waste disposal site operated by PT Prasadha Pamunah Limbah Industri (PPLi) in Nambo village Klapanunggal district, Bogor regency, West Java, on Saturday (Nov 15).
The Environment Ministry’s deputy for pollution and environmental damage control (PPKL) Rasio Ridho Sani said destroying the contaminated shrimp was conducted after the United States Food and Drug Agency (FDA) found radioactive Caesium 137 contamination on Indonesian shrimp products from Cikande, Serang regency, Banten.
The Nuclear Energy Regulatory Agency’s (Bapeten) investigation found that from 3,250 cardboard boxes of shrimp checked, there were 494 cardboard boxes, or 5.7 tonnes, which were contaminated by Caesium 137 on the outer surface of the cardboard boxes.
Testing on the shrimp showed that there were 10.8 Bq/kilogram of Caesium 137. The figure was far less than Cs 137 clearance threshold of 100 Bq/kg, which is considered safe to be released to the environment.
“Today [Saturday], we destroyed shrimp contaminated by Caesium 137 upon recommendation from the Indonesian Quarantine Agency (Barantin) and Bapeten to destroy the 494 cardboard boxes,” Rasio said.
Destroying the shrimp must be done carefully and according to radiation safety protocols and environmental safety regulations.
The destruction was done using a vertical stoker incinerator at a temperature of between 800 degrees and 900 degrees Celsius with air emission control equipment and a continuous emission monitoring system (CEMS).
Ashes from the incinerator were handled with a macro encapsulation process, which entails solidification of the contaminated material using concrete inside of a high-density polyethylene (HDPE) box, which was then put inside a landfill area.
Rasio, who is also the Caesium 137 radioactive contamination task force chairman, said the task force was still carrying out mitigation and decontamination measures for Caesium 137 contamination in Cikande.
The measures have shown significant progress with the factory which suffered contamination with Caesium 137, which has been completely decontaminated and is already back in operation.
Meanwhile, red-zone locations A, C1, D, H and I had been cleared by Bapeten and the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) while locations B, E, F and F1 are currently in the cementing stage with K-350 concrete and location F3 in a finalisation stage for preparation for cementing, cncbcindonesia.com reported.
Location C behind PT VP factory is being prepared for containment with fencing for public safety. So far, 975 tonnes of material contaminated with Cesium 137 have been moved to PT PMT’s interim storage.
The entire decontamination process is expected to be completed in November. On decontamination measures in Lampung, Yudi Pramono, director of nuclear preparedness and engineering at Bapeten, said that the exposed locations on Jl. Marga Dantaran No. 11 in Panengahan district, South Lampung regency, had been remediated with cementing.
Cesium 137 radiation exposure at three locations had been reduced with cementing to below 0.5 microsieverts per hour and were declared safe.
“We will continue monitor those locations to ensure the public’s security and safety,” Yudi said. - The Jakarta Post/ANN
