FACTS ABOUT LYNAS

FACTS ABOUT LYNAS

1 Opposition invoked “emotion and anger” to exploit the fear and phobia of nuclear radioactive after Japan’s Fukushima whereby the incident involves a nuclear reactor unlike Lynas that involves a rare earth processing plant of allowable radioactive level.

2 Opposition leader in the State Assembly, Leong Ngah Ngah from DAP, when attending the briefings on the project for elected representatives in 2009, had also agreed to the construction of the project, and was reported by a Chinese daily as saying that the state government had managed to secure a huge investment from abroad.

3 PAS Hulu Langat Member of Parliament, Dr. Che Rusli who is also an expert on radioactivity had also confirmed that the project is not hazardous and within international management standards.

4 New York Times also wrote that the Lynas plant, which is being built in Gebeng, will house radiation sensors and the latest equipment in pollution control, besides featuring 12 acres of temporary storage pools that will be lined with dense plastic and sit atop nearly impermeable clay, to hold the slightly radioactive by-products until they can be carted away.

5 Japan is the world’s biggest importer of rare earths. And China produces 97% of the world supply. At the height of the diplomatic fracas between China and Japan over a disputed island chain, Beijing used this precious metal to force Japan to come to their terms. This product is becoming an effective weapon.

6 China which produces 97% of the world’s rare earth supply but only hold 30% of the world reserve had previously approved Lynas plan to set up the processing plant but the Chinese government had later imposed export limits on all final products as well as export taxes. This is double taxation. The Chinese government now controls and restricts export of all rare earth materials and also applies import and export taxes of up to 25% specifically for rare earths. Lynas was unwilling to invest in China and then have the export of final products controlled by the Chinese government.

7 Beijing pressured the Japanese technology firms who need rare earths to produce everything from smart phones to Toyota Motor Corp.’s prized hybrid automobile, the Prius. One day after the new customs procedures were introduced, Japan – which depends on China for nearly all of its rare earths – caved in to Beijing’s demand in the fight, releasing the captain of a Chinese fishing boat that rammed two Japanese coast guard vessels near the uninhabited islands known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China.

8 Lynas has committed to place funds with the Malaysian government to ensure safe management of any remaining residue once the plant stops operations.

9 Lynas Corp Ltd had received approvals to build a rare earth refinery in Australia and China but had picked Malaysia as the preferred location given its proximity to market, access to high quality chemicals, utilities and engineering skills. Kuantan Port is strategically located for trade. China’s port is far away and expensive in tax and Australia’s port is neither here nor there in any geographical location.

10 Lynas was granted a 12-year tax break due to their pioneer status such as Amoco and WR GRace. Lynas will promote the influx of supporting industries ; i.e. furniture, chemical product, steel and etc. Money will be trickle down to the community especially retailing and F&B.

11 Lynas has struck a deal with another company to turn the waste product into concrete. The low levels of thorium could be converted into safe byproducts such as cement aggregate for road construction. China is already doing this. (Rare earths contain low-levels of radioactive material)

12 If opposition successfully stop the Lynas plant, the world will lose their confidence in Malaysia as a nation that is incapable of making decisions based on international standards and laws. PM will lose his command and credibility as being unable to give security and confidence to the investors when faced with local political pressure.

13 Lynas site approval came from the International Trade and Industry ministry and the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) and not the State Government of Pahang.

14 AELB is an international body which govern the conduct of all nuclear and atomic activities. It has an international radar screen which monitor all the radioactive plant site of which a country is a treaty to it including Malaysia. Malaysia as a signatory party has to followed the required international standard before approving any atomic or nuclear activities.

15 Malaysia is following in the footsteps of Indonesia, Vietnam and Bangladesh which will be operating their first nuclear power plant by 2020. Although Bangladesh was comparatively less industrialised than Malaysia, it evertheless planned to have its nuclear power plant built by 2020.

16 The raw material processed at the Asian Rare Earth Plant in Bukit Merah which used tin mining tailings as its raw material is different from the one uses by Lynas as the former contained high levels of thorium, which was the source of high levels of radiation.

17 Under current regulations, the raw material processed at Bukit Merah could not be processed in Australia, Malaysia or China and by contrast, the Lynas raw material contained naturally low levels of thorium 50 times lower than the tin tailings used by Asian Rare Earth.

18 The employees will be exposed to just 10 per cent of the additional radiation an average person receives in their daily lives, which is less than the exposure to a person getting a medical or dental x-ray once a year (0.39 mSv/year). Referring to Nuklear Malaysia’s report, each person receives an average of 2.4 millisieverts (mSv) of radiation from their natural surroundings annually. The Asian Rare Earth raw material was tin mining tailings which contained high level of thorium, 50 times higher than

19 The raw material that will be used at LAMP. On average, a Lynas worker will receive 2mSv/year (millisievert/ year) of radiation compared with 150 mSv/year received by those who smoke a pack of cigarettes daily or the 9 mSv/year absorbed by airline crew.

20 The radioactive element, thorium, in its raw material from Mount Weld was 50 times lower than those in Bukit Merah. At these levels, exposure to radiation is less than taking a flight on a commercial airline or using a mobile phone. It means you get more radiation exposure by taking a flight or using mobile phone.

Lynas sees Malaysia rare earths plant timeline intact

* Lynas sees plant opening by June

* Malaysia government to hear appeal in April

* Japan counting on rare earths supply from Malaysia plant

* Lynas shares up 4.6%, outpacing market (Adds Lynas comment, details)

MELBOURNE, March 9 (Reuters) - Australia's Lynas Corp still expects its rare earths plant in Malaysia to open by June, despite an appeal against the government's decision to grant a licence to the plant that is key to breaking China's grip on global markets.

Lynas said the Malaysian government had received an appeal against the temporary operating licence granted to the company in February and would hear the appeal in April.

"Lynas has been given no indication that this appeal will change the project's timeline," a Lynas spokesman said.

Lynas shares opened at A$1.10 and rose 4.6 percent to A$1.13, outpacing a 0.6 percent rise in the broader market , after its statement that the project timeline was intact.

Lynas's rare earths plant in Kuantan on the east coast of Malaysia, under construction since 2010, is one of the world's few new sources of rare earths in a market dominated by China.

Malaysia's Atomic Energy Licensing Board approved a two-year operating licence for Lynas in early February, on condition it would submit a detailed plan for a permanent disposal facility for waste from the plant within 10 months.

The appeal to the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation was filed after Malaysia's attorney general ruled that court action launched last month by residents in the Kuantan area seeking to force the government to review its decision to grant Lynas a temporary operating licence was not the correct avenue of appeal.

Malaysian residents and local politicians say they are worried that radioactive waste from the plant could contaminate the environment.

Lynas says its plant is safe and is not comparable to a rare earths plant in Malaysia that was shut by a unit of Mitsubishi Chemicals in 1992 after residents there blamed the plant for birth defects and a high number of leukemia cases.

The company expects to process up to 22,000 tonnes of rare earths annually, or about 20 percent of the world market, through its Malaysian plant which it is supplying from its Mount Weld mine in Western Australia.

Japan is the world's biggest consumer of rare earths and is counting on Lynas to supply 8,500 tonnes a year by early 2013 to curb its reliance on China, under a deal involving trading house Sojitz Corp and state-run Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp. (Reporting by Sonali Paul; Editing by Ed Davies)

Lynas debate is more about politic

When the Fukushima Daichi Nuclear Power plant incident made the news, the world was stunned, for it seemed that even the great engineering nation of Japan was helpless against the destructive nature of nuclear fission.

Suddenly, people realised that cheap and seemingly clean electricity came at a very high risk. Of course, true to the nature of Malaysian politics, just a few days after the incident, a large banner appeared on the MRR2 flyover above the intersection between Taman Melawati and Taman Permata, which read: “Pakatan Rakyat membantah cadangan kerajaan BN membina loji nuklear di Pahang.”

At first I thought that the banner was referring to an initiative to build a nuclear power plant some time in the future as prior to that TNB had released some research paper to look into this alternative means of power generation, you could read about it here and here.

But I learned that the banner was referring to the planned rare earth plant located in Gebeng, Pahang. That’s right, to some people, the Lynas rare earth refinery plant in Pahang was equivalent to Fukushima Daichi, perhaps one could discount the incident saying they were misinformed because at that point the Lynas issue was not in the limelight.

But only a few days ago as I was reading the comments on a FMT article regarding experts contradicting each other on Lynas, I was shocked to see people leaving comments comparing this rare earth plant to Chernobyl and Fukushima.

There was nothing wrong with protesting against an industry that you think might cause harm to the environment. It’s fine, but to literally and willingly be misinformed for the sake of protesting is something I have to object to, as if some automatically revert into this process of dumbing down your logical thoughts and arguments for the sake of living in the narrative that this plant was absolutely evil.

Let me give you an example, when someone pointed out that the Lynas plant in Gebeng was not a nuclear power plant and that its radiation risk or level should not be compared with say Chernobyl or Fukushima, the standard response from an angry passionate protester would be – “Why don’t you live beside the plant lah, bring up your children there!”

You see that’s not a good counter argument nor does that statement strengthen your case in anyway whatsoever. Yes, we all have concerns regarding the environmental effects of industries but still that does not justify your comparison between two very different plants.

Two-race system

Let’s just say if I was to protest the building of an oil and gas refinery plant near Hulu Kelang based upon the notion that the risk of a gas leak was detrimental to the surroundings similar to the effects of the Bhopal Gas leakage.

And it so happens that an oil and gas engineer points out to me that the Bhopal Gas incident was not an oil refinery but rather a pesticide plant, do you think that by me suggesting that he should live around Hulu Kelang and raise his kids there would justify my argument?

Look even if that guy really did move and live at Gebeng it still won’t change the fact that it’s not a nuclear plant. So there! If you must argue on this issue, I plead that at least argue and disagree based on the basis of facts and correct information.

And it really peeves me when people are willing to accept the views of so-called “experts” that fit onto their narrative even though these so-called “experts” have no expertise whatsoever in the related issue. I find it quite baffling how some argue their case, regarding the radioactive impact of this power plant which is supposed to be somewhat similar to nuclear fission, based on the opinion of an epidemiologist and at the same time reject the view of a nuclear scientist who tells you that it’s not.

I know that some would state that there was no point in listening to a government servant nuclear scientist who would only narrate the view of his master as part of the propaganda machine to lie to the rakyat.

Well I got news for you, the nuclear scientist who disagreed with Fuziah Salleh (Kuantan MP), who was also a lecturer for the Nuclear Sciences programme for over 20 years and also served 16 years in the Malaysian atomic licensing committee, was a PAS MP. Yes, Dr Che Rosli Che Mat is an opposition MP from Hulu Langat.

I would like to share with you some very wise words from the current PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, who said: “If you want to know about oil palm, don’t ask the rubber expert.”

I think this issue is not about the environment any longer and those who protests, or at least generally speaking, are passionate about it not because of the environment. If we dig deeper, it is more politically motivated and I think that some of us do this unconsciously.

Some of us are not protesting based on the justification that this plant really is dangerous and detrimental to the environment, rather that we create those justifications so that it fits into the narrative that is convenient to us.

It really saddens me that these days, most issues are argued not based on facts and figures but rather emotional judgments influenced by partisan politicking.

Perhaps, in a more brazen manner, I put forward the suggestion that the Lynas debacle has instead of exposing environmental awareness amongst Malaysians, merely highlights that our country is slowly becoming more of a two-race system instead of a two-party system.

Source : Free Malaysia Today

Its About The Truth of Lynas In Kuantan

By:  Melinda Mazhar

Lynas, a simple, honest chemical processing plant in Kuantan, is somehow dragged into politics by irresponsible politicians who are out of genuine issues to fight for.  Now, these politicians disguise themselves as environmental champion, plan to hold a protest to stop Lynas from operating, claiming that the chemical processing is hazardous to human and the environment.

However, they are not at all interested in going by the law and apply for a court injunction to legally and seriously stop the operation which is evident that this protest is nothing but a political stunt.

Tireless efforts are made by the Lynas team to explain, but these desperados refuse to listen or even visit the plant.  As such, there seems to be no ending to this Lynas issue.

Believe it or not, the public are not all aware of this whole thing about Lynas controversies.   Now, here’s what it’s all about:

FACTS AND FALLACIES OF LYNAS PART 1

Allegations by Oppositions:	Facts:
Lynas takes advantage of weaknesses in Malaysian law by proposing China standard.	Malaysia’s law on radiological safety and health is AT PAR if not STRICTER THAN any of those used internationally.  Lynas has never proposed the used of any China’s standard.
Australian law restricts construction of such plant within 35km radius of residential area.	There is no such Australian law or even other international law on this.  The nearest town to Mt. Weld, Laverton just HAPPENS TO BE 35km away.   The distance is not a requirement.
Lynas brought in lanthanide concentrate without license.	Lynas DID NOT and HAS NEVER brought in any lanthanide concentrate into Malaysia.  The logistical trial run carried out by Lynas used an empty container instead.
Lynas came to Malaysia to avoid strict Australian rules.	Malaysia regulatory requirements IS EQUAL TO or STRICTER THAN that of Australia’s.  But, Malaysia is chosen for its:-          conducive and competitive investment climate -          optimum resources.
Lynas was chased out from Terengganu due to environmental reasons.	Lynas WAS NEVER chased out of Terengganu.  But, Gebeng has the required port facilities, reliable support facilities and technically competent work force.
Lynas is a nuclear plant.	Lynas is NOT a nuclear plant but a simple chemical processing plant operating at atmospheric pressure and ambient temperature.  Therefore, there will be no fire or explosion that will cause radioactive dispersion and contamination into the environment.
Lynas is the same as the controversial Asian Rare Earth (ARE) plant.	ARE uses monazite as raw material and Lynas DO NOT use monazite.    Lynas’s raw material radioactivity is 37 times LESS than ARE.  Lynas residue is 60 time LESS radioactive than ARE.
Environment will be polluted because the plant is located in a swampy land with shallow water table.	Lynas original site is about 2 m above the water table.  The site has been prepared by replacing with 1.4 m local fill making the site 3.4 M. above water table.  The RSF is built on top (not excavated) of the new site.  The base of the temporary storage facility is 0.75 M. thick making the base now 4.15 M ABOVE WATER TABLE.  The wall of the storage facility is 9 m high.  Radioactive Exposure Prevention measures taken by Lynas: -          Thorium is not soluble in water and thus can be precipitated and separated out. -          HDPE liner will prevent leaching -          Clay (layer below HDPE) has very low permeability to water and that will further prevent any possible leaching. -          Thorium has strong affinity (stick strongly) for clay, thereby further reducing leaching. -          An under liner leak detection system (ULLDS) monitors and detects any possible leak.
Lynas will cause radioactive rain from the gas released by the stack.	In a worst case scenario, the Radiological Impact Assessment estimated that stack release may only contribute 0.002mSv/year to the public which is 500 TIMES LESS THAN THE MAX. PERMISSABLE DOSE LIMIT set by the AELB (1 mSv/year)
The plant uses a lot of acid that can contaminate the soil.	All process areas are built on BUNDED CONTAINMENT CONCRETE structure.  Any acid spill will be contained in the bund and WILL NOT come into contact with the ground.
Lynas did not carry out study on internal radiation exposure.	Lynas carries out RIA in accordance to all regulatory requirements and IAEA standards.  RIA is an assessment of total dose and risks to critical targets (eg. workers and public) calculated based on all possible exposure pathways.  This means that both external and internal exposures were already considered.
Lynas operation will induce cancer and caused deformed newborns.	Statistic from Ministry of Health 2007 shows that cancer prevalence is 720 cases per million.  BEFORE LYNAS the, estimated fatal cancer from background radiation at Lynas site is 35 cases per million.   With Lynas in operation, based on the 0.002 mSv/y,  the estimated fatal cancer is 0.1 case per million.
Radon and Thoron can travel thousands of miles and cause health problems.	Radon and Thoron are radioactive gases with VERY SHORT HALF LIVES AND WILL NOT TRAVEL FAR.  Once formed, these radionuclides will immediately transform into solid and cannot travel at significant distances from its base.The dose rate at Lynas outside fence: Radon – 0.00002 mSv/year Thoron – 0.002 mSv/year
No level of radioactivity is safe.	Radiation is all around us.  Some areas in Perak, Selangor and Langkawi have higher than the average Malaysia’s level of radiation but posed no hazardous onsequences.  Radiation is also used in the medical field and it is perfectly safe.

Total Disappointment with PM Najib's Administration!

Total Disappointment with PM Najib's Administration!



Press statement of the joint press conference March 3, 2012
of Stop Lynas Coaltion(SLC) & Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL) on
Lynas’ Radioactive Waste to be DUMPED in Pahang Tax Free while
Australia Gets A$18 million in Taxes


Yesterday Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s stated that Lynas must shift its waste away from its Gebeng plant to an isolated location ending speculation that it will be shipped out of the country. At the same time, Bloomberg reported that Western Australia will be collecting A$18millions in taxes.
[see http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/307787/20120302/lynas-mt-weld-rare-earths-china-malaysia.htm]


“We want our PM to explain why we in Malaysia get NOT a single cent in taxes but have to accept Lynas’ radioactive waste?” queried Mr Andansura Rabu, Chairperson of SLC and Mr Tan Bun Teet, Chairperson of SMSL.


“Where are we going to dump the waste? In Temerloh, in Pekan, in Maran or in our Taman Negara? “ added Mr Rabu and Mr Tan


According to the Long Term Radioactive Waste Management plan submitted by Lynas Malaysia in its application for the licence for its rare earth refinery (Also known as Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP)) in Gebeng, the waste will have to be stored in the state of Pahang.


Following the 15,000-strong Stop Lynas rally in Kuantan and other solidarity actions throughout Malaysia, a series of erratic and contradictory statements have been made by various cabinet ministers and the Director-General of the Atomic Energy Licensing Board Raja Abdul Aziz Adnan.


Health Minister, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai on 29th Feb 2012 said Lynas is required to move its radioactive wastes outside of Kuantan and ship them back to Australia. The statement was made after a Cabinet discussion involving three ministers in charge of regulating the Lynas project – they included the Ministers of International Trade and Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) and the Minister for Natural Resources and Environment.


AELB’s Raja Abdul Aziz Raja Adnan insisted that Lynas’s radioactive waste will not be radioactive any more once it has been treated by Lynas. He implied that the Western Australia government can take back Lynas’ treated waste. In reality, radioactivity cannot be rid of through any form of treatments. It can only be transferred from one waste stream to another and from one kind of residue to another. In the end it is still radioactive.


The Western Australian Government through the Minister for Mines and PetroleumNorman Moore has stated twice – once in answering to questions raised by Greens MP Robin Chapple in April last year, and when asked by journalist last week – that his Government would NOT accept any radioactive waste from another country including that generated by Lynas.


Malaysia’s suggestion has essentially contravened our commitment under the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal. Malaysia is a signatory to the Convention which is legally binding. It is illegal under international law to transport hazardous waste like that from the Lynas plant across national boundaries.


“The Government’s erratic, confusing and factually incorrect statements are a clear indication that it has NO IDEA what to do with Lynas’ radioactive waste. Why then do we issue the licence to Lynas? What about rakyat’s health, our livelihoods and our future?” Added Mr Rabu


SLC and SMSL are disappointed that our Government has not heed the strong opposition expressed by local residents and the voices of dissent by Malaysians in general that we do not want the Lynas plant in our country.


“Even if the Government can satisfactorily find a permanent disposal site, what about the 500 tonnes of contaminated run-off from the plant that will be drained into the Balok River and into the South China Sea EVERYDAY? What about the 100,000 cubic metre of waste gas EVERY HOUR that will be polluting our air?”concluded Mr Rabu and Mr Tan.


SLC and SMSL are giving the Government an ultimatum – either PM Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his Administration stop the LAMP from operating in Malaysia or we will embark on a nation-wide campaign to vote this Government out.



Press Statement
Himpunan Hijau Steering Committee
3 March 2012

Najib has yet to hear the voices of the Rakyat!

The Prime Minister made a statement on 26th February 2012 that the disposal of toxic waste materials from the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) must be done at a remote location far away from the local community.

This same statement was repeated by the Prime Minister yesterday. It is ironic that it was made even though the Himpunan Hijau Steering Committee has immediately responded to his earlier statement by clearly raising the concerns of the people.

Said Wong Tack, Chairperson of Himpunan Hijau Steering Committee, “This evidently shows that the PM is either still very much ill-informed of the concerns of the people or he has intentionally ignored the wishes of the people.”

“If he is still ill-informed, then we would like to know who is preventing the voices and concerns of the people from reaching our PM.”

“Is there a vicious ploy by certain parties to cut-off the people from his leadership?”

“Whatever it is, we hope our Prime Minister did not make this error in judgement intentionally. This is because a leader who turns a deaf ear to the voices of his people and shows no concern for the opinions of the people will not remain in position for long”’ Wong Tack added.

We hereby, wish to repeat one more time to our Prime Minister that his suggestion to dump the massive amount of radioactive waste far away from habitated area is totally senseless and unacceptable! His remark reflects a shallow understanding of the ecological system and blatant disrespect of natural environment.

Every inch of our motherland is a precious natural asset to our nation. The landscape of our countryside is an ecologically sensitive system of forests, rivers and food production farmlands.

Our Prime Minister must realize that the thousands of acres of land used for permanent disposal of toxic/ radioactive wastes will deprive our children and our children’s children for generations to come from getting near it for billions of years. This permanent radioactive polluting site will subject our whole nation to the risks of widespread contamination and pollutions.

Our Prime Minister must also know that the issue is not only limited to the management of the radioactive waste disposal. Every step of the processing of raw materials from cracking to leaching & purifications to separations to product finishing is highly hazardous and can cause severe irreversible harm to the environment and the wellbeing of the people.

So, how could our Prime Minister, at this highly crucial moment, still calls for a compromise and a search for a win-win situation?

Lynas Malaysia's Interview with Elena Willis

What is Lynas doing in Malaysia? Dato' Haji Mash'al Ahmad, Managing Director of Lynas Malaysia Sdn Bhd, explains that Lynas chose to locate its' plant in Malaysia due to its' economic viability, even though it has met regulations and approvals in Australia. The smooth-running of the plant requires huge amounts of water which costs but which costs 6 ringgit per metric cube Australia, but 84 cents per metric cube in Malaysia. Electricity costs 96 cents per kilo per hour in Australia, but 23 cents per kilo per hour in Malaysia. Caustic soda costs RM 1500 million per metric tonne in Australia, but RM 500 million per metric tonne in Malaysia. Furthermore, the scarcity of technologically skilled people in Australia means that engineers need to be paid RM 14,000 per month in Australia, but RM 10,000 per month in Malaysia.

RADIOACTIVE waste dump in Malaysia a super subsidy for LYNAS — SM Mohamed Idris

March 02, 2012

MARCH 2 — In recent days, we have heard the authorities giving contradictory signals regarding the disposal of radioactive waste from Lynas Corp’s Gebeng refinery.

According to the health minister, Lynas would be told to move the radioactive wastes outside of Kuantan or ship these back to Australia. This was the agreement reached by him and the ministers of International Trade and Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation, and Natural Resources and Environment.

Four days on, February 26, the prime minister said that the radioactive wastes would be dumped far away from residential areas.

Another two days later, February 28, the public was told that the four ministries had decided to store the radioactive waste in Malaysia and a possible site had been found.

The following day, the Green Technology, Energy and Water minister said that the Cabinet had not given up on sending back the radioactive waste to Australia.

In fact, the impression given was that Malaysia was mulling over the option of whether to actually send the radioactive waste from Lynas back to Australia.

This being the case, we are wondering why the Malaysian government had not thought of getting Mitsubishi, the company that produced radioactive waste in the Asian Rare Earth (ARE) factory in Bukit Merah, Perak over 30 years ago, to send its wastes back to Japan.

It is still not too late as the radioactive waste may continue to contaminate our environment and pose a threat to Malaysians for countless generations, thanks to the apathy of the government (and Atomic Energy Licensing Board). If the government thinks that it can ship radioactive waste back to Australia, we are sure that the same could have been done for the ARE waste.

If the government had done this earlier, we would not be burdened with having to deal with these radioactive wastes with a half-life of 13.9 billion years. In other words, we are now left with having to manage radioactive waste that will remain radioactive forever.

This was a stupendous subsidy for Mitsubishi (and Japan). The radioactive waste left behind is a source of contamination to our soils, forests, water systems and the air. (Thorium, when it decays, produces radioactive radon gas that can be carried for long distances, generously covering the air Malaysians breathe).

These are enormous liabilities to Malaysia, our ecosystems and our health and safety. The damage to our land, forests, waters and air and the costs to the health of Malaysians is incalculable. These future costs were never factored in when Mitsubishi was allowed to operate. In the absence of knowledge about future risks and costs, the government (AELB) decided it was a golden investment opportunity. Mitsubishi took the profits home and left this toxic legacy that will last for billions of years — or forever.

Despite the fact that work has begun on an underground storage system (at the cost of over RM300 million), there is no guarantee that this underground storage of some 80,000 200L drums of radioactive wastes from the ARE factory will remain geologically stable for the next 100 years, let alone 1000 years.

Bear in mind that Malaysia is made up mainly of limestone, which is highly porous, unstable and prone to erosion, making it very unsuitable for the storage of long-lived radioactive wastes. Climate change, tsunamis, earthquakes, the recent unprecedented floods and natural disasters should serve as a clear warning. Should any disaster occur, Malaysian taxpayers will have to foot the bill.

The ARE factory in Bukit Merah was underwritten with enormous public subsidies where all the risks and costs were socialised and borne by Malaysia and its present and future generations.

Allowing Lynas to dump its radioactive wastes on Malaysian soil will be the sweetest ultimate subsidy of all. This is on top of the tax-free billions that it will reap as profits. Note that Lynas’s rare earths production will be ten times more than that produced at the ARE factory, thus the wastes level will be immense. If the damages and costs are not addressed by the authorities, they will be burdening future generations of Malaysians with radioactive wastes they had no part in creating.

As it is, the annual US$10 million (RM30 million) that Lynas will pay Malaysia for five years beggars belief. It is farcical that the economic, social, environmental and health costs to the workers, communities, the land, forests, soils, waters, seas, and future generations are seen as amounting to just US$50 million.

Allowing Lynas to dump its radioactive wastes in Malaysia forever is indefensible.

* SM Mohamed Idris is president of the Consumers Association of Penang and Sahabat Alam Malaysia

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.

Source : The Malaysian Insider