Traces of radioactive Cesium-137 contamination have been found at 22 production facilities in an industrial zone near the country's capital, Jakarta, Indonesia. This was reported by UNN with reference to Reuters.
Details
The contamination was first detected in a batch of shrimp shipped to the US in August by local company PT Bahari Makmur Sejahtera. After this, Indonesian authorities conducted a thorough scan for radiation levels in the Modern Cikande industrial park, where the company was based.
According to the inspection results, this enterprise was deemed safe. Another 21 enterprises are subject to inspection, the report says.
Reference
Cesium-137 is a dangerous radioactive isotope that usually enters the environment as a result of nuclear tests or after accidents such as Chornobyl or Fukushima.
It is formed mainly during nuclear fission in nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons. The half-life of Cesium-137 is about 30 thousand years.
Indonesia does not have nuclear weapons or nuclear power plants. It is possible that Cesium-137 entered the country from abroad.
Recall
As a result of recent Russian shelling of the energy infrastructure of the Kyiv region in Slavutych, an emergency occurred at the facilities of the State Specialized Enterprise "Chornobyl NPP". The New Safe Confinement, which isolates the fourth power unit of the Chornobyl NPP destroyed in 1986, was left without electricity.
Later, electricity supply at all Chornobyl NPP facilities was restored.