A chemical engineer warned any mishap of the Lynas Advance Material Plant (Lamp) in Gebeng, could be greater than the Bukit Merah episode as it may not only affect Malaysia, but other South East Asian countries like Singapore and Thailand.

NONELee Chee Hong (left), who holds a doctorate in corrosion science and engineering from the University of Manchester, and is the South East Asia regional manager of Intech Ltd, claimed it was unrealistic for Lynas to claim zero risk and zero radioactivity of the Lamp site, based on computer simulation and lab analysis.

"In my opinion, the safety assessment by Lynas was not carried out in a professional way, acceptable to the highest international standards on safety.

"With the welfare of about 700,000 Kuantan residents within the 30 km radius of the Lamp site, a potential environment disaster cannot be ruled out," he said.

"I cannot understand why Malaysia is prepared to tolerate the potential hazards of a plant which will give no substantial benefit to Malaysia because pioneer status has been granted to Lynas for 10 years.

"The consequences of any mishap at the Lamp site would result in radiation fallout and release of a substantial amount of radioactive particles into the Malaysian environment. Indeed one cannot rule out the escape of these particles to Thailand and Singapore," warned the engineer.

Lee said this in his affidavit in support of a judicial review application by 10 residents.

They are applying for permission from the Kuala Lumpur High Court, to initiate a challenge on the decision by the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) to grant temporary or permanent license to Lynas.

Lynas was awarded by the AELB with a temporary operating license (TOL) on Jan 30.

The residents, comprising a a retired naval warrant officer, a production shift manager, and a mechanical fitter among them, want the TOL license quashed after their application to challenge it is allowed.

They also want Lynas be required to carry out a detailed environment impact assesment (DEIA) report to be submitted to the Department of Environment.

The residents claim that the granting of the license is unconstitutional as it violates their equality, right to life and rights to have a property. They claim that the AELB's decision to give the TOL is ultra vires (beyond its powers) as it was not provided a DEIA.

Lynas, they claim, lacks the experience in extracting rare earth oxides from rare earth concentrates or ore which is the main function of Lamp.

Process simulation vs actual data

Lee in his affidavit further claimed the the Lynas data was based on simulation and not actual data.

The chemical engineer who was brought up in Kuantan, but presently works in Kuala Lumpur, also disputes the Lynas readings on the capacity and radioactivity of wastes which it may produce, as he claims that Lynas has not had any prior experience in operating such a project.

"Nor does Lynas possess a pilot-scale plant which would generate industry-proven data to corroborate its claims, " he said.

Lee said the radioactive concentration of the ore coming from Australia was "too good to be true" with regards to its level of 0.16 percent thorium and 0.0029 uranium. He claimed that the company has not provided quality control and lab reports, or a certificate of analysis, to verify this.

Similar literature from Australia, Lee claimed, suggests substantial difference of 60 times of the scientifically tested figures on the presence of the two concentrations (thorium and uranium) to that claimed by Lynas.

He said even if he assumed the Lynas produced statistics were correct, to result in 64,000 tonnes of radioactive WLP gypsum waste a year, the Lamp site will still produce a massive 106 tonnes of thorium and 5.6 tonnes of uranium every year (both substances to be mixed in a large quantity of lime to formulate WLP gypsum).

"The production of these radioactive substances in such quantity in totality or cumulative effect, is striking," he said in his affidavit.

In the residents' application, they warned of possible serious environmental effects as experienced by China, the largest producer of rare earth, and that the effect of creation of radioactive waste and its discharge may pollute Malaysia's rivers and the South China Sea.

It also pointed that AELB had a conflict of interest in approving the TOL license as the board would be paid 0.05 per cent of the revenue generated by the Lynas site.

This, they claimed, violated the principle of natural justice in AELB arriving in its decision to awarding the license.