The advertorial of Lynas in Free Malaysia Today on Oct 25, 2018, comparing the amount of thorium and its level of radiation of the two plants is not the complete story - because it ignored the contribution of radiation by uranium in the ores.
Indeed, it is puzzling that Lynas did not highlight its low level of uranium present in Mt Weld ore imported to Malaysia, only 29ppm versus 6,000ppm of the Asian Rare Earth (ARE, Bukit Merah, Perak) ore.
The high concentration of radionuclides in ARE waste was 760 Bq/g according to an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report, while that of Lynas WLP waste is only a low 6.0 Bq/g.
The highest level of radiation exposure measured by Professor Ichikawa at the surface of the waste was 200 mSv/hr, which was 1,000 to 2,000 times the background radiation of 0.1 to 0.2 mSv/h at Papan.
The occurrence of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 caused an upsurge of the residents’ concerns in Gebeng and Kuantan, rather similar to the impacts of Chernobyl disaster in 1986 on Papan and Bukit Merah residents.
True, the amount and level of thorium radioactivity may be low. However, the total amount of wastes Lynas produced is huge. The high annual production of the wastes is about 0.5 million tonnes (dry) or more than one million tonnes in cake form.
The original proposal of the pilot plant study for the Ashton plant (acquired by Lynas) in Australia was for the wastes to be blended and “transported back to the mine site as the wastes would not be classified as a radioactive substance under the relevant state and federal transport codes”.
Now Lynas has built the plant in Malaysia and it would not be possible to return the wastes to Mt Weld mine site. The Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) claimed that Lynas has found suitable locations for a Permanent Disposal Facility in 2013, but there has been no announcement of Lynas’ plan for PDF.
ARE has built a permanent disposal storage near Papan after decommissioning with a commitment of US$100 million (RM1.67 billion) for long-term monitoring of the 34,000 tonnes of toxic radioactive wastes and 750,000 tonnes of decommissioned materials. The cost for such a facility for Lynas wastes and decommissioning will be prohibitively high.
The operating profit of Lynas for 2018, for the first time in six years, is possible only by not providing for the sum necessary for managing the huge volume of wastes and without having to pay any tax.
It is hoped that Lynas will be more transparent and accountable to Malaysians and the shareholders with its permanent waste management plan and provisions for decommissioning.
TAN KA KHENG is chairperson of Papan Suport Group and adviser of Perak Anti-Radiation Committee. He was detained under ISA during the infamous Operation Lalang for campaigning for a clean and safe environment in Papan and Bukit Merah. - Mkini
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