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.

WHAT IS LYNAS??

Many people asking what is Lynas about? for the first i hear it, i also don't know what it mean.

So I went on Google and found that, “Oh, it’s about rare earth”.

Huh? What?

“Rare earth. You don’t know what’s rare earth?”

No?

“Dumbass”. And we continued drinking.

Later, we got home, watched a few episodes of Homeland (truly awesome series, btw) and now G has collapsed in bed.

For some reason, I’m still not ready to sleep. Probably has something to do with the couple of candy bars and a packet of pork scratchings I inhaled while watching TV. So I ended up googling “Lynas”.

The more I read what I read, the sicker I felt in my guts.

Why?

1. Lynas is basically an Australian company that’s building a $230 million rare earth processing plant in a location called Gebeng that’s about 30km from the town of Kuantan, Pahang. The project has been approved by our government.

2. So what is “rare earth”? From the little that I’ve read….oh, nothing much. Just a beautiful, politically correct name for natural occurring minerals that are RADIOACTIVE.

3. In a nutshell, what this Kuantan-based Lynas plant will do is remove radioactive elements from the rare earth minerals so that what’s left can be used in various industries, namely electronics.

4. When a part of something is removed, there will be waste. In the case of Lynas, radioactive elements will be removed from rare earth minerals resulting in a humongous amount of RADIOACTIVE waste; in the form of gas, liquid and solids.

5. Lynas is not sending the radioactive waste back to Australia, because the government of Australia forbids it. So yeap, it will be disposed in Malaysia.

6. Errrr…how will it be disposed?

7. Some said the radioactive waste will be dumped into the South China Sea. Some said it will be dumped on open ground just like what happened in Bukit Merah. Yeah, I know right, I also didn’t know that we actually had experienced radioactive disaster in our very own Malaysia too!

8. Then I immediately googled “How far does radiation spread?”. Basically, 50km radius is YOU ARE SCREWED ZONE.

9. And crap, it doesn’t stop spreading. The radioactive levels just get lesser as it gets further but THEY DON’T STOP.

10. Which means, although we are 260kms away from Lynas in the comfort of Klang Valley, we are all also at risk.

11. I have relatives in Mentakab and they are a pretty far 140kms away but for them to just be in the same negeri/state concerns me.

12. Our food sources, seafood sources, water sources….they are all at risk.

13. Let me put it this way, if the Japanese can fail to defend their own nuclear power plant, how much faith should I put into our government and in the Ozzies for ensuring a radioactive disaster-free life?

14. 5 years? 15? 25? 30 years is about the maximum and bloody hell, I should still be alive then, possibly with grandchildren.

15. Or not, cause exposure to radiation affects fertility.

I believe we should tell everyone we know what Lynas is. Read up about it. Speak out. Don’t ignore your gut feelings.

# – By the way, the Himpunan Hijau 2.0, a peaceful protest against Lynas plant is happening today at these locations:

And that’s what an average dumbass such as I, thinks about it.