Reveal emergency flood plans, Lynas told

Himpunan Hijau chairperson Wong Tack has questioned how the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (Lamp) in Gebeng, Kuantan, could be operating normally as the region has been hit by severe flooding from the monsoon rains.

“How can it be operating normally. The amount of water that they discharge when they are fully functioning is very serious.

“As far as I know, all the drainage in the area is already at a level where it is impossible to have any discharge, so where do they keep water now? Probably the plant is not functioning,” Wong (left) said when contacted yesterday.

He said this in response to Lynas’ statement yesterday that its rare earth refinery was not affected by the floods that have hit several areas throughout the East Coast - particularly Kuantan about 20 kilometres away - and is operating normally.

Wong said he does not know whether there is a flood at Lamp and if so, how severe it is, but pointed out that the area has been flooded before.

Hence, Wong demands that Lynas reveal its emergency response plan in case of a flood.

“Today it might not be hit (by flood) but what about tomorrow? There is radioactive waste at the site, so if the flood happens tomorrow or the week after, what is their response plan?” he asked.

'Fulfils national, international regulations'

When contacted for a response, a Lynas spokesperson told Malaysiakini via email, “Like any other industry, Lynas has a crisis response plan that will be executed in the event of a natural disaster. It is a standard requirement for any heavy industry.

“The facilities designed and constructed in Lynas plant have fulfilled all the national and international regulations as well as standards imposed by the government of Malaysia.”

In its statement yesterday, Lynas had also said that its residue storage facility (RSF) was “designed and constructed to provide sufficient capacity to contain stormwater caused by the worst flood that occurred in this area over the last 100 years.”

The RSF is used to store the remains of Lamp’s Water Leach Purification (WLP) waste stream, which is classified as radioactive.

As at the time of writing this report, Lynas had not responded to  yesterday's requests for more details on its flood response plan or to Wong’s statement.

In a report today, news portal The Malay Mail Online quoted the government regulator Atomic Energy Licencing Board (AELB), confirming that the floods have not affected Lamp, adding that it is monitoring the situation closely.

It reportedly also said that Lynas has already taken a "worst case" heavy monsoon rain into account in its radiological impact assessment and the RSF's lining would prevent a leak.

"Should the RSF overflow and spill over into the retention pond, the radioactivity concentration of the WLP residue will, in effect, be diluted thus bringing the radiation levels down.

"One of the principles of radioactive waste management is to lower the radioactivity concentration by the ‘dilute and disperse' technique," it was quoted saying.

Meanwhile, Wong also slammed Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi for dismissing a reporter’s questions on Lynas with regards to the flooding in the East Coast, saying that “Lynas is already over. Irrelevant already.”

“Only two months ago, 1.2 million people had come together and put their signatures on an anti-Lynas campaign. Only a week ago, Malaysian and Australian citizens came to hold a demonstration in front of their head office (in Sydney).

“The issue is not closed… The deal may be over for them, but it is not over for the people,” he said, condemning Ahmad Zahid’s statement as ‘irresponsible’.