Public to face zero radiation, says Lynas
Joseph SipalanPublished: Apr 21, 2011 9:08 AM | Updated: Apr 21, 2011 9:42 AM
Australian mining giant Lynas Corporation Ltd is firm in its belief that the public will face “zero” radiation exposure from their up-coming rare earth plant’s operations in Gebeng, Pahang.
Australian mining giant Lynas Corporation Ltd is firm in its belief that the public will face “zero” radiation exposure from their up-coming rare earth plant’s operations in Gebeng, Pahang.
In a batch of documents dated March 23 this year - made available to Malaysiakini by Lynas’ public relations representative Ogilvy Worldwide - the company claims that whatever additional radiation generated by the plant’s operations will only be experienced by its workers, and even that would be at significantly low levels.
Citing findings of a Radiological Impact Assessment (RIA) carried out and presented by national agency Nuklear Malaysia in 2009, Lynas pointed out that the storage of material “residues” or by-products of their operations is “safe, posing no risk to the public”.
“However, Lynas has taken the additional safety step of placing these residues in safe, reliable engineered storage cells that are designed so that there is no possibility for any leakage of material into the environment,” the company said in one of three documents explaining its position on the project.
Referring to Nuklear Malaysia’s report, the company stated that each person receives an average of 2.4 millisieverts (mSv) of radiation from their natural surroundings annually.
Lynas also pointed out that the “additional acceptable exposure limit” for the public is set at 1 mSv a year and 50 mSv a year for workers - including background radiation or radiation that occurs naturally in the environment.
The company said the “safe level” of radiation exposure is established and monitored by Malaysian authorities based on Malaysian standards, which are “identical to Australian and international standards”.
“In the case of the Lynas Advanced Material Plant, the public exposure will be zero, whereas the average exposure for an employee at the Lynas Advanced Material Plant will be only 0.2 mSv per year.”
In clarifying public statements which the company deemed “factually incorrect”, “taken out of context” and “misleading to the public”, Lynas said their project proposal was approved not only by Malaysian authorities but also Australia and China.
Project never rejected
Despite gaining initial approval for their project in Australia, where the raw material is sourced, the company said it was unable to find a “suitable, available location” that had the required infrastructure such as high-grade industrial chemicals, gas, electricity and plentiful water supply.
Lynas also decided against setting up shop in China, due to the Chinese government’s decision to control exports of the company’s final products and the imposition of export taxes.
“Ultimately Lynas identified Malaysia as the preferred location for this plant. It is a credit to Malaysia that there are good port facilities, industrial land, good supplies of high grade chemicals, reliable utilities, a clear legal framework, strict and clear regulation, good education standards at secondary technical and university levels and a government with a vision for value-added industry.”
The company also denied claims that the Terengganu government rejected their proposal to build the plant in Kemaman, stressing that it was the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (Mida) that suggested Gebeng as a preferred location.
“Lynas designed the plant for the specific Kemaman location. Lynas obtained all approvals required by the authorities for this location including the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB), Department of Environment (DOE) and Majlis Perbandaran Kemaman approvals.
“While waiting for the Terengganu government to allocate the land, Mida asked Lynas to consider relocating to Gebeng, Pahang, to which Lynas agreed. At no time did the Terengganu government reject approval for the Lynas plant,” the company said.
Lynas has invested some RM700 million to build the plant, which they intend to complete and begin test runs by September this year.
The company claims that once up and running, both Lynas and Malaysia will benefit from multiplier effects that will generate over RM400 million in annual operating expenditure, create 350 jobs and at current rare earth prices, increase the country’s export revenue to over RM8 billion or approximately one percent of the gross domestic product.
The project however has met strong protests from locals and opposition politicians, who claim that the plant will turn Gebeng and nearby Kuantan into a second Bukit Merah.
The Bukit Merah debacle in Perak happened between the 1980s and early 1990s, when Japanese company Mitsubishi Chemical ran its Asian Rare Earth factory which processed tin tailings to extract rare earth compounds.
The company’s failure to manage the radioactive waste produced by ARE’s operations however created what is now arguably Asia’s largest radioactive waste clean-up.
The radiation from the factory’s operations is blamed for scores of deaths in nearby villages due to various illnesses, particularly leukaemia.
In a batch of documents dated March 23 this year - made available to Malaysiakini by Lynas’ public relations representative Ogilvy Worldwide - the company claims that whatever additional radiation generated by the plant’s operations will only be experienced by its workers, and even that would be at significantly low levels.
Citing findings of a Radiological Impact Assessment (RIA) carried out and presented by national agency Nuklear Malaysia in 2009, Lynas pointed out that the storage of material “residues” or by-products of their operations is “safe, posing no risk to the public”.“However, Lynas has taken the additional safety step of placing these residues in safe, reliable engineered storage cells that are designed so that there is no possibility for any leakage of material into the environment,” the company said in one of three documents explaining its position on the project.
Referring to Nuklear Malaysia’s report, the company stated that each person receives an average of 2.4 millisieverts (mSv) of radiation from their natural surroundings annually.
Lynas also pointed out that the “additional acceptable exposure limit” for the public is set at 1 mSv a year and 50 mSv a year for workers - including background radiation or radiation that occurs naturally in the environment.The company said the “safe level” of radiation exposure is established and monitored by Malaysian authorities based on Malaysian standards, which are “identical to Australian and international standards”.
“In the case of the Lynas Advanced Material Plant, the public exposure will be zero, whereas the average exposure for an employee at the Lynas Advanced Material Plant will be only 0.2 mSv per year.”
In clarifying public statements which the company deemed “factually incorrect”, “taken out of context” and “misleading to the public”, Lynas said their project proposal was approved not only by Malaysian authorities but also Australia and China.
Project never rejected
Despite gaining initial approval for their project in Australia, where the raw material is sourced, the company said it was unable to find a “suitable, available location” that had the required infrastructure such as high-grade industrial chemicals, gas, electricity and plentiful water supply.
Lynas also decided against setting up shop in China, due to the Chinese government’s decision to control exports of the company’s final products and the imposition of export taxes.
“Ultimately Lynas identified Malaysia as the preferred location for this plant. It is a credit to Malaysia that there are good port facilities, industrial land, good supplies of high grade chemicals, reliable utilities, a clear legal framework, strict and clear regulation, good education standards at secondary technical and university levels and a government with a vision for value-added industry.”
The company also denied claims that the Terengganu government rejected their proposal to build the plant in Kemaman, stressing that it was the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (Mida) that suggested Gebeng as a preferred location.“Lynas designed the plant for the specific Kemaman location. Lynas obtained all approvals required by the authorities for this location including the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB), Department of Environment (DOE) and Majlis Perbandaran Kemaman approvals.
“While waiting for the Terengganu government to allocate the land, Mida asked Lynas to consider relocating to Gebeng, Pahang, to which Lynas agreed. At no time did the Terengganu government reject approval for the Lynas plant,” the company said.
Lynas has invested some RM700 million to build the plant, which they intend to complete and begin test runs by September this year.
The company claims that once up and running, both Lynas and Malaysia will benefit from multiplier effects that will generate over RM400 million in annual operating expenditure, create 350 jobs and at current rare earth prices, increase the country’s export revenue to over RM8 billion or approximately one percent of the gross domestic product.
The project however has met strong protests from locals and opposition politicians, who claim that the plant will turn Gebeng and nearby Kuantan into a second Bukit Merah.The Bukit Merah debacle in Perak happened between the 1980s and early 1990s, when Japanese company Mitsubishi Chemical ran its Asian Rare Earth factory which processed tin tailings to extract rare earth compounds.
The company’s failure to manage the radioactive waste produced by ARE’s operations however created what is now arguably Asia’s largest radioactive waste clean-up.
The radiation from the factory’s operations is blamed for scores of deaths in nearby villages due to various illnesses, particularly leukaemia.
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