"Indonesian officials and citizens will be tested with special equipment before departing to Japan and on their return in Jakarta."
Tabanan, Bali (ANTARA News) - Health Minister Endang R Sedyaningsih said all Indonesians who have returned home from Japan would be examined to ensure that they were free from nuclear radiation.

"I think the examination is important. Indonesian officials and citizens will be tested with special equipment before departing to Japan and on their return in Jakarta," she said here Saturday.

The Indonesian Nuclear Supervisory Agency (Bapeten) had even conducted a scanning test for Indonesians in Japan who would return home.

Head of Bapeten As Natio Lasman said 174 Indonesian who arrived at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport from Japan on March 15 were free from radiation leak of the country`s damaged nuclear power plant.

He said in Jakarta on Friday that they were "negative" from being affected by the radiation leak.

"The scanning results of 174 evacuees have shown that they are all not contaminated by radiation substances as we have previously expected," he said.

Besides holding a scanning examination, the Bapeten authorities had also started observing the air quality of northern parts of Indonesia to ensure that it was free from the radiation.

Japan was rocked by a devastating earthquake with its subsequent deadly tsunami on March 11. The disasters had reportedly killed at least 5,000 people and caused almost 10,000 others go missing.

As a result of its nuclear plant crisis, Japan has asked Indonesia to increase its liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies to help the country deal with the power crisis.

Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Makiko Kikuta met with Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Economy Hatta Rajasa in Jakarta on Thursday.

Makiko told him that the 9-magnitude quake and tsunami had damaged his country`s nuclear power plant.

The supplies of electricity had drastically declined. In response to the scarcity, the Japanese government had minimized power consumption, he said.

Makiko said Japan`s power consumption is now equal to that for the entire Java Island.
(Uu.R013/HAJM/H-YH)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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