KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 2 — The Atomic Energy Licensing Board’s (AELB) recent decision to green-light Lynas Corp’s controversial rare earth refinery in Gebeng will make “lab rats” of Kuantan residents, Fuziah Salleh said today.
The Kuantan MP pointed out that it was unreasonable for the regulator to have issued a temporary operating licence (TOL) for the plant even before details of the miner’s permanent disposal facility (PDF) were made known.
AELB disclosed yesterday it has granted a TOL for the RM2.5 billion Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) in the Gebeng industrial area, located 25km northeast of Kuantan.
The regulator’s decision will finally allow Lynas to fire up its refinery, which has raised fears of radiation pollution among local residents and environmentalists.
AELB director-general Raja Abdul Aziz Raja Adnan stressed, however, that the Australian miner will have to fulfil several conditions or risk having the TOL suspended or withdrawn, saying that it will monitor the plant for the next two years.
He also said that plans and the location for the PDF must be tabled by Lynas within 10 months, and that the miner must also place a US$50 million (RM152 million) guarantee with the government.
“This decision proves that AELB is in cahoots with Lynas to make Kuantan residents as test subjects and ‘lab rats’ over the next 10 months,” Fuziah said in a statement today.
She urged Putrajaya to put the public’s safety first and withhold the TOL until Lynas prepares the PDF.
The government should also look into claims that AkzoNobel, a key contractor for the Gebeng plant, had pulled out of the project over safety concerns, the PKR vice-president urged.
Internal emails obtained by the New York Times revealed that the Dutch chemical firm withdrew after it was told that fibreglass liners using its resin would be installed in concrete-walled tanks that have a problem with rising dampness in the floors and cracks in the walls.
“A responsible government will investigate in detail the complaints reported by NYT by scrutinising the quality and specifications of the plant... and not issue conditions as a matter of procedure,” she said.
Lynas said last week it expects the start of operations at LAMP to be delayed to the second quarter from the first quarter of this year.
Plans to start operations in September last year were scuppered when Putrajaya bowed to public pressure last April and put the project on ice pending the review by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
In July 2011, AELB adopted 11 recommendations set out by the review of the refinery and said it would not allow Lynas to begin operations or import rare earth ore until all conditions, which include a comprehensive, long-term and detailed plan for managing radioactive waste, were met.
Lynas Corp failed to meet any of the conditions in its first proposals, according to the regulator.
Lynas’ local subsidiary has insisted it can begin operations within six weeks of being given the go-ahead for the plant, which will produce rare earth that is crucial to high technology products such as wind turbines, hybrid cars and smartphones.
