'Lynas agrees to send rare earth residue abroad'

Lynas (M) Sdn Bhd has agreed to send abroad the residue from its rare earth processing plant in Gebeng near Kuantan, International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed said today.

Lynas has given a written assurance to the government on the matter which is in compliance with the condition imposed on the company when it was issued a temporary operating licence by the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) recently, he said.

“Although the government is satisfied that the Lynas operation will not generate residue which is radioactive, as an added precaution and in keeping with a recommendation of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the government has asked Lynas for an assurance and to provide for a permanent disposal facility far away from human settlement.  

“Should the company fail to find a permanent disposal facility, the residue generated will be taken out of Malaysia,” he told reporters after reading out a joint statement with Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob. He had earlier chaired a meeting of the Joint Industrial Coordination Committee.  

Mustapa also said that Lynas has not started its operations and the government has yet to appoint an independent expert to analyse the radioactive radiation readings at the plant site.

“The AELB is monitoring the natural radiation levels at more than 30 sites at the project area. These readings are downloaded to the AELB website from time to time.  

“The AELB is also in the process of appointing a third party evaluator, which will be done most probably by the end of this month,” he said.

Touching on the feedback from the local community, Mustapa said the ministry and the relevant technical agencies such as AELB and the Department of Environment had met with representatives of NGOs, chambers of commerce and student groups to provide an explanation.

“This engagement revealed that the people have a better understanding of the project, that it is safe in scientific and technical terms but has been manipulated by several parties for vested interests.

“They were also informed about the statement by Western Australian Resources Minister Norman Moore on Feb 29 confirming that the radiation level of the rare earth is very low,” he said.

- Bernama