CAP, SAM HEAD REJECTS LYNAS’ CLAIMS
Its explanation on waste is unscientific and defies logic, says NGOs’ president
THE Consumers Association of Penang (CAP) and Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) have slammed Lynas Malaysia Sdn Bhd for accusing them of making claims that were “false” and “ignored scientific facts”.
The non-governmental organisations (NGOs) said Lynas should stop misleading the public about its waste.
CAP and SAM president S.M. Mohamed Idris said the NGOs could not be simply dismissed as being unqualified.
He said the groups learnt from their experience with the Asian Rare Earth (ARE) plant in Bukit Merah, Ipoh.
He added that even though the raw materials used and the final product in the Lynas plant differed from what were used and produced in the ARE plant, the waste generated by both plants was similar.
This, he said, was because they contained uranium and thorium, which posed major challenges in terms of their management and disposal.
“That is the truth. We must not be fooled or lulled into thinking that the radioactive waste is not a problem and that it can be diluted. We are talking about the
safety of millions and billions of years to come. No one can guarantee that.
“Lynas must not be allowed to wriggle from its undertaking to the government. If it cannot meet the condition of removing the radioactive waste back to Australia, it should not be allowed to operate any further.
“Why should the Malaysian government and its people pay the price for generations to come, for the profits of one company?
“The ARE waste, which is being kept in Kledang Range, Perak, is the responsibility of the Atomic Energy Licensing Board and the Perak government.
“It poses a huge challenge in ensuring that the permanent disposal facility is managed in a safe manner for hundreds, millions and billions of years to come,” said Idris.
“In relation to the Lynas waste, the best option in safeguarding public health and the environment is to send it back to Australia, so that the Malaysian government does not have the responsibility of managing this waste, which will remain radioactive for a long time.”
Idris said it was misleading for Lynas to claim as “scientific fact” that the water leach purification (WLP) residue was “naturally occurring”.
Earlier this week, the two NGOs had claimed that the waste from the WLP process should be removed from Malaysia, as it could not be regarded as naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM), but was in fact technologically-enhanced, and had been made dangerous due to technological processes.
Idris said: “It is misleading of Lynas to claim as ‘scientific fact’ that the WLP residue is ‘naturally occurring’. Lynas claims that ‘there is no technological enhancement’ of the low level, naturally occurring radionuclides (thorium and uranium). This is unscientific, and defies common sense and logic.”
According to Idris, the fact of the matter was that the feedstock that was processed by the Lynas plant had been brought from Australia and removed from its natural state.
Once the NORM elements were removed from the ground and technologically processed, they could no longer be referred to as “naturally occurring” as they were no longer in their natural state, he added.
He said any removal and processing of radioactive materials turned them into technologically-enhanced NORM or TENORM (technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material).
“To call them NORM is scientifically misleading.”