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SteelAsia Manufacturing Corp. said it was ordered by the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute to take custody of 23 cargo containers allegedly containing radioactive zinc dust and rejected by Indonesia, adding it had no connection with the shipments. The Philippine steel company said it was tagged as the source of the radioactive materials by PNRI, and ordered to entomb the containers in its Calaca scrap recycling plant in Batangas province, according to a statement on Saturday. “The containers did not originate from SteelAsia,” the company said. The order to entomb the containers is “potentially endangering the community and other corporate locators in that industrial zone – if indeed there is a threat of radioactivity,” it said. PNRI’s top official, Carlo Arcilla, on Saturday told reporters that SteelAsia and another company were the sources of the zinc dust in the containers, and SteelAsia’s products have “radioactivity” while the other firm’s didn’t. SteelAsia didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Arcilla’s remarks. The Philippine government this month said it will investigate the source of a shipment to Indonesia that contained zinc powder contaminated with radioactive material caesium-137. The shipment was sent by Zannwann International Trading Corp., a Chinese trading firm with offices in the Philippines, a person familiar with the situation said. The Philippines is investigating steel processing facilities that allegedly supplied the zinc dust to Zannwann, the person said. Zannwann did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours. An Indonesian investigation in September uncovered caesium-137 at a metal-processing hub that supplies materials for construction and manufacturing in a western Java industrial estate. Indonesia this month halted imports of scrap metal. Caesium-137 is an artificial radionuclide used in medical devices and gauges, and is also one of the by-products of nuclear fission processes in reactors and weapons testing. Exposure to the isotope can raise the risk of cancer, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. SteelAsia said its steelmaking process does not use nor produce radioactive materials, and it does not make or export zinc dust, which is a by-product of its manufacturing process. It also said that if there is radioactivity detected within the containers, the company has no technical capability, facilities or training to handle radioactive waste. “All scrap metals purchased for melting and production are tested for radioactivity, and none had ever tested positive,” SteelAsia said, adding its radiation monitoring equipment is regularly calibrated under PNRI supervision. Arcilla disagreed with SteelAsia, telling reporters there is “radioactivity within their properties” following tests made by PNRI. Neither side provided documents to back their claims. SteelAsia said it had voluntarily suspended operations at its scrap recycling plant out of caution, and “without conceding the presence of any radioactive materials in the facility”. A Philippine inter-agency committee that includes the departments of interior and local government, environment, defence and health is looking into the matter.
