Activists and experts are demanding to know how radioactive materials ended up in the Batan Indah housing complex in South Tangerang, Banten, saying that such dangerous substances should not be discarded in a residential neighborhood.

“The radioactive waste in a populated area is quite unusual. It makes us wonder: Who threw the waste away in the [housing] complex?” Dwi Sawung, the head campaigner for energy and urban issues at the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

Meanwhile, Heru Umbara, spokesperson for the National Nuclear Energy Agency (Batan), said his agency had already determined the source of the waste, but a further investigation was still needed to find those responsible for leaving it in the residential area.

“We have identified the source of the waste, but we still don’t know who dumped the waste at the site,” Heru said, without revealing any more details.

The incident has been in the media spotlight for the past week after the Nuclear Energy Regulatory Agency (Bapeten) detected a high level of radiation at a vacant lot next to a volleyball court in the housing complex during a regular detection survey on Jan. 30 and 31. Suspicions emerged that the radiation came from a leak at a small nuclear reactor located about 5 kilometers from the housing complex.

A week later, the agency found material believed to be the source of the radiation in the lot and confirmed that the dangerous substance was the highly radioactive Caesium-137, which is commonly used for industrial purposes. The discovery generated allegations that the radioactive materials came from industrial sources and not the reactor.

Walhi, Dwi added, had observed that toxic and hazardous waste (B3 waste) from industrial activities had also been found in another housing complex in Marunda, North Jakarta, recalling that sand and dirt in the area had been contaminated with B3 waste and that both materials were even used for landfill.

However, as the substance found in South Tangerang contained a radioactive isotope, Dwi later raised another question: Why had the South Tangerang administration failed to detect the waste being disposed in the housing complex?

“I think the incident only shows that the administration has been very negligent in observing the environmental aspects of the city,” Dwi said. “However, as the incident has already happened, the administration should concentrate on finding the perpetrators,” he added.

Yudi Utomo Imardjoko, a nuclear expert at Gadjah Mada University (UGM), said he was also confused over why the waste was at the complex, particularly since Caesium-137 had a half-life of just over 30 years.

According to Government Regulation No. 61/2013, such radioactive waste should be delivered for processing to a disposal facility (PLTR) owned by Batan in Serpong, South Tangerang. Similar measures, he added, were undertaken by other countries since the procedure was directly regulated by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

“Therefore, I’m quite baffled why the waste had even reached the housing complex,” Yudi said. “And the waste was found buried beneath the soil, indicating that it has been there for a long time.”

He said he believed the hazardous materials had not come from the PLTR, considering that the place was heavily guarded and Batan had also installed many CCTV cameras at the facility.

“The waste might come from industrial activities, but, still, a thorough investigation is needed to determine the source of the waste. Considering its radiation level, the presence of Caesium-137 in the complex is a serious problem,” he added.

Benjamin Davnie, deputy mayor of South Tangerang, denied that the administration had been negligent over supervising industrial activities.

He said the administration evaluated the waste management procedures done by industries every year, adding that this was the first time discarded radioactive materials had been found in the city.

“The incident is really beyond our control,” Benjamin said. “Therefore, we allow Bapeten to lead the investigation into the situation and, in the meantime, I demand residents not evacuate the complex because they can still perform their activities as usual,” he added.

Bapeten spokesperson Abdul Qohhar said his agency would promptly conduct an investigation with the Batan and the South Tangerang Police to trace the origins of the waste, in the belief that the hazardous materials had not come from the nuclear reactor, which is not known to be leaking, but from industrial activities.

“The waste from the reactor usually consists of many radioactive substances, but here [at the site] we only found Caesium-137, which leads us to believe that the waste is not coming from a nuclear reactor leak, but from industrial activities,” Abdul said, adding that waste from the reactor usually consists of more than 50 radioactive substances.

He said that while the radiation would not severely damage the health of surrounding residents, Bapeten still needed to conduct an investigation into the incident since disposing of radioactive waste in a housing complex had violated Government Regulation No. 61/2013, which stipulates that radioactive waste should be treated in the same facility where the substance was being used.

“Once we find the perpetrators, we could impose sanctions ranging from a written reprimand to revoking their permits,” Abdul said. (glh)

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