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US Returns Radiation-Contaminated Footwear to Indonesia
Authorities have been working to clean up an industrial park where they say a small steel company appears to have smelted scrap metal mixed with cesium, contaminating various nearby factories.
Photographer: Mohammad Hashemi Rafsa/AFP/Getty ImagesThe US has flagged Indonesian exports of footwear for cesium-137 contamination, adding another product showing signs of radiation to a list that already includes shrimp and cloves.
Authorities in Jakarta said Wednesday that two containers of footwear suspected of being contaminated with radioactive cesium-137 were recently returned by the US. Indonesia’s national research agency will carry out tests on the shoes, Bara Krishna Hasibuan, an official with the government task force investigating the radiation findings, told reporters.