‘Lab scale’ thorium extraction doesn't mean it's experimental - minister

 PARLIAMENT | A minister has sought to assure the Dewan Rakyat today that thorium extraction is a viable technology, amid scepticism towards Lynas’ Corps proposal to remove the radioactive material from its waste.

Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Chang Lih Kang said that even though the process has only been carried out at a laboratory scale before, that does not mean the technology is still at an experimental stage.

He said it has been proven that Lynas can remove thorium from its Water Leach Purification (WLP) residue, but the process must now be scaled up from laboratory scale to industrial scale.

“When we say lab scale, that refers to a laboratory scale. It does not mean the process is (still) an experiment or an exploration.

“This (thorium extraction) has been proven viable. What Lynas need to do is to scale up,” said Chang in winding up his ministry's committee stage debates of the Supply Bill 2024.

He also said the scaling-up process will be monitored by the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB).

“The monitoring by AELB will be done periodically to see how Lynas is scaling up from lab scale to industrial scale,” said Chan in response to Khoo Poay Tiong (Pakatan Harapan-Kota Melaka) who raised additional concerns over whether the Australian mining company will deliver its promises within the stipulated time period.

Previously, several environmental activists have also voiced concern that the thorium proposal would not materialise and only succeed in buying Lynas more time to operate in Malaysia, as with its previous attempts to find ways to repurpose its waste products.

Lynas’ commitment, capablities

Aside from Khoo, Chow Yu Hui (Harapan-Raub) also questioned Lynas' commitment and capabilities to carry out the thorium extraction process here.

Chang explained that Lynas can extract about 700 tonnes of thorium out of the 1.2 million tonnes of WLP residue stored near the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (Lamp) in Gebeng, Pahang.

“That is a very small percentage, and after that, the remaining one million metric tonnes will become scheduled waste that is no longer radioactive,” he said.

Other countries have not pursued thorium extraction because it incurs a high cost, but Lynas is willing to undertake it, he added.

He said it is cheaper for other countries to dump the waste material into the same mine it was originally dug from, but this is not an option for Malaysia.

For context, the concentration of thorium in the WLP residue is reportedly around 1,650 parts per million. Extracting 700 tonnes of thorium out of 1.2 million tonnes of WLP residue would mean only about 35 percent of the thorium is removed.

Key licencing conditions

On Oct 23, the AELB removed key licencing conditions for Lynas that would otherwise require it to cease importing radioactive materials into Malaysia and move its cracking and leaching operations out of the country. This would entail a partial shutdown of the Lamp facility.

The decision hinges on Lynas’ proposal to reduce the radioactivity of its WLP residue from the current 6.2 becquerels per gram (Bq/g) to below 1 Bq/g by removing thorium from it. Once it is brought below 1 Bq/g, it is no longer regulated as radioactive waste and can be disposed of like ordinary industrial waste.

Chang had previously said that it is up to Lynas to decide how to deal with the extracted thorium, but even if it intends to sell it, the materials’ prior storage must still comply with AELB’s regulations.

The revised licencing conditions for Lynas still require the company to construct a permanent disposal facility (PDF) for the WLP residue.

On that, Chang told Parliament that the construction of the PDF is now more than 35 percent complete.

“It has several chambers. Some of them are already complete and being filled with residue,” he said. - Mkini