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.
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
Zannwann did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside regular business hours.
