Only three percent of the feedback received by the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) during the public display of the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant's application documents for a temporary operating licence (TOL) opposed the project.
One of the members of the public consultative committee, Prof Abu Hassan Abdullah (right) said only seven or eight out of 334 feedback forms received stated that they did not want the project to continue, and that too without any specific reason.
“They just wrote like ‘I don’t want Lynas’ but without any reason given,” he said at a media briefing held by the AELB today.
Abu Hassan said 97 percent of the people who submitted the feedback form “were okay” with the project, but most of them expressed deep concern over the permanent disposal facility (PDF) for the radioactive wastes.
He said that was why the committee had pressured the AELB to settle the PDF issue before issuing the TOL to Lynas.
One of the members of the public consultative committee, Prof Abu Hassan Abdullah (right) said only seven or eight out of 334 feedback forms received stated that they did not want the project to continue, and that too without any specific reason.“They just wrote like ‘I don’t want Lynas’ but without any reason given,” he said at a media briefing held by the AELB today.
Abu Hassan said 97 percent of the people who submitted the feedback form “were okay” with the project, but most of them expressed deep concern over the permanent disposal facility (PDF) for the radioactive wastes.
He said that was why the committee had pressured the AELB to settle the PDF issue before issuing the TOL to Lynas.
Public display
The AELB had displayed the documents to the public from Jan 3-26 at four places - the AELB headquarters in Dengkil, Selangor, the Pahang state secretariat, the AELB temporary office at the Lynas project site and at the AELB east coast branch office in Kemaman, Terengganu.
However, the public, especially anti-Lynas groups, were unhappy, claiming that the authorities had placed restrictions on time and people to inspect those documents.
According to the presentation by Abu Hassan, there were 334 people who inspected the documents but at the same time, there were 1,122 people who submitted feedback forms to the AELB.
He said that most of the comments were unsubstantiated and repeated.
AELB director-general Raja Abdul Aziz Raja Adnan, who also presented, pointed out the huge difference between the number of people who inspected the documents and those who gave comments.
"A very large number of people did not read the documents but gave comments, so you have to ask yourself; are the comments based on what they read, or these comments just emotional or political in nature?" he questioned.
However, the public, especially anti-Lynas groups, were unhappy, claiming that the authorities had placed restrictions on time and people to inspect those documents.
According to the presentation by Abu Hassan, there were 334 people who inspected the documents but at the same time, there were 1,122 people who submitted feedback forms to the AELB.
He said that most of the comments were unsubstantiated and repeated.
AELB director-general Raja Abdul Aziz Raja Adnan, who also presented, pointed out the huge difference between the number of people who inspected the documents and those who gave comments.
"A very large number of people did not read the documents but gave comments, so you have to ask yourself; are the comments based on what they read, or these comments just emotional or political in nature?" he questioned.
Worst case scenario
Meanwhile, Raja Abdul Aziz said that the worst case scenario for the LAMP was the explosion of the pressurised boilers and leakages from the pipes supplying the acids.
He said that the radiation could be easily detected if there were emissions.
"The least of my worry is radioactivity. It is the easiest thing to detect, so you can remove it as it is found," he said.
The anti-Lynas groups also claimed that the half-life of the thorium waste is 14 billion years and the duration of the facility used to store it, cannot last as long as thorium.
Raja Abdul Aziz (right) said that the waste will remain stable and won't emit any radiation before it reaches its half life, so there was no need to worry about it.
When asked about the cabinet decision to ask Lynas to ship the radioactive waste back to Australia before any license is given, he said that won't affect the decision taken by the board.
He said that the AELB had already asked Lynas to provide an letter of undertaking to send the waste back to Australia in order to obtain the TOL even before the cabinet made its decision yesterday.
Speaking to Malaysiakini later, he said that based on his understanding, the cabinet fully endorsed the decision made by the board - to ask Lynas to send the waste back to Australia.
Leaking pipe
Raja Abdul Aziz also responded to the PKR allegations recently that a pipe at Lamp was leaking.
He confirmed that that was true after conducting an inspection and added that Lynas had already taken the necessary steps to repair it.
He said that the pipe is part of the fire protection system of the plant, and if Lynas failed to fix it, it would not get the relevant certificate regarding safety from the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department.
Two weeks ago, PKR Kelana Jaya MP Loh Gwo-Burne revealed a leaked email purportedly from a Lynas contractor, which says that out of 19 ‘packages' of fibre-glass pipes, only five passed muster.
He said that the radiation could be easily detected if there were emissions.
"The least of my worry is radioactivity. It is the easiest thing to detect, so you can remove it as it is found," he said.
The anti-Lynas groups also claimed that the half-life of the thorium waste is 14 billion years and the duration of the facility used to store it, cannot last as long as thorium.
Raja Abdul Aziz (right) said that the waste will remain stable and won't emit any radiation before it reaches its half life, so there was no need to worry about it.When asked about the cabinet decision to ask Lynas to ship the radioactive waste back to Australia before any license is given, he said that won't affect the decision taken by the board.
He said that the AELB had already asked Lynas to provide an letter of undertaking to send the waste back to Australia in order to obtain the TOL even before the cabinet made its decision yesterday.
Speaking to Malaysiakini later, he said that based on his understanding, the cabinet fully endorsed the decision made by the board - to ask Lynas to send the waste back to Australia.
Leaking pipe
Raja Abdul Aziz also responded to the PKR allegations recently that a pipe at Lamp was leaking.
He confirmed that that was true after conducting an inspection and added that Lynas had already taken the necessary steps to repair it.
He said that the pipe is part of the fire protection system of the plant, and if Lynas failed to fix it, it would not get the relevant certificate regarding safety from the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department.
Two weeks ago, PKR Kelana Jaya MP Loh Gwo-Burne revealed a leaked email purportedly from a Lynas contractor, which says that out of 19 ‘packages' of fibre-glass pipes, only five passed muster.
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