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South Tangerang resident who possessed radioactive substances offered ‘decontamination services’: Police
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National Armed Forces Rapid Disaster Relief Response Command personnel from the Chemical, Biological, Radioactive, Nuclear Unit (KBRN) take samples of soil exposed to Cesium 137, a radioactive substance, in the Batan Indah housing complex in Serpong, South Tangerang, Banten, on Feb. 16. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan )
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resident of South Tangerang, Banten, who allegedly kept radioactive substances in his house at the Batan Indah housing complex did so for economic gain, the National Police have said, and had been engaged in business involving radioactive substances.
National Police spokesperson, Sr. Comr. Asep Adi Saputra said that the man, a National Nuclear Energy Agency (Batan) employee identified by the initials SM, had been keeping radioactive substances at his house for a long time.
“He opened a decontamination service, too, so [the service] was a part of his livelihood,” Asep said on Sunday, as quoted by kompas.com.
Police found the radioactive isotope Caesium-137 along with other radioactive substances in SM’s house last week.
Asep said that the decayed nature of the substances indicated that they had been in the house for a long time.
SM is currently still only a witness in the investigation, but the police have said that he could be soon named a suspect and charged under a 1997 law on nuclear energy for illegally storing radioactive materials in his house. If charged, he faces a maximum punishment of two years’ imprisonment and a Rp 100 million (US$7,154) fine.
The Nuclear Energy Regulatory Agency (Bapeten) first detected high levels of radiation in the Batan Indah complex during a routine check at the end of January. Between Feb. 7 and Feb. 8, a joint Bapeten and National Nuclear Energy Agency (Batan) team discovered several radioactive fragments in a vacant lot next to a volleyball court in the housing complex. The joint team later traced the radiation to SM’s house. (hol)
