Plan to sell nuclear fuel from Lynas waste ‘speculative’, expert says

 

The government’s plan to deal with waste from rare earth plant Lynas, in Gebeng, is “speculative” because there is no real indicator that there is a market for thorium as a nuclear fuel.

This is because all the thorium-fuel nuclear reactors in the world have been experimental or at the demonstration stage, and not commercially rolled out.

“Anyone who claims they know precisely what will happen and the value of that (waste), is completely speculative.

“It’s all speculative right now. Even hydrogen (as a renewable source of energy) is speculative. We don’t know,” energy expert Grant Hauber said.

Hauber, who is the strategic energy finance adviser of the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA), spoke at a conference on just and equitable energy transition in Petaling Jaya today.

He was responding to a question on the government’s decision to allow Lynas to extract thorium from the rare earth processing plant’s lanthanide feedstock and the water leach purification residue, and to sell the thorium as nuclear fuel.

‘Thorium as nuclear fuel experimental’

Although the first early experimental thorium-based nuclear reactor was built in the US in the 1960s, the technology has yet to become mature enough for commercial-scale production.

One of the most recent advances was an experimental reactor completed in China in August 2021, which is a first for the country.

“Built in the middle of the Gobi Desert in the country’s north, the reactor over the next few years will undergo testing.

“If the experiment proves successful, Beijing plans to construct another reactor potentially capable of generating electricity for more than 100,000 homes,” the IAEA reported in March.

The IAEA said thorium extraction is still very challenging and can be expensive.

“Another hurdle for thorium is that it can be difficult to handle,” said Anzhelika Khaperskaia, Technical Lead on Fuel Engineering and Fuel Cycle Facilities at the IAEA.

Govt: Thorium extraction the best solution

Last week, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Chang Lih Kang said thorium extraction is the best solution Malaysia has to the continuous accumulation of radioactive waste, of which 1.2 million metric tonnes is stored in permanent disposal facilities (PDF).

Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Chang Lih Kang

Citing studies by Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and the Malaysian Nuclear Agency, Chang said once the thorium is extracted from the waste, the waste will no longer be radioactive.

He said Lynas would be given two years to scale up its thorium extraction programme from a pilot stage to a commercial level.

Pending this, any waste material must be stored in a PDF facility.

With this, the government will no longer require Lynas to relocate its cracking and leaching facility from Gebeng. This process produces the radioactive waste.

He said the government had taken several months to study Lynas’ proposal to extract thorium from the waste before it was approved by the Atomic Energy Licensing Board.

Citing local experts, Chang said the thorium could be sold as fuel to countries that use nuclear energy but did not elaborate on which countries this would be and what plants would use the thorium.

It should be noted that some of the countries investing heavily in thorium reactors - India and China - are looking to leverage to their own vast thorium reserves as a means to boost their energy security.

Malaysiakini has contacted Lynas last week regarding its plans to extract and market thorium, but has yet receive a response.

Opponents of the rare earth processing plant, meanwhile, have urged the government to make Lynas extract thorium from the lanthanide feedstock in Australia, using Malaysian expertise, instead of shipping the raw materials to Malaysia. - Mkini