Here's an article I came across on the site of Rare EarthFuture. Don't know if this has been posted in HC before. Please DYoDD, I have nothing to do with the website nor author.
Lynas Waste, What Waste???! admin on 16/09/2012 — Leave a Comment #Lynas Waste, What Waste???
Excerpt of statement issued by Norman Moore, WA Resources Minister: regards to Lynas ore to be transported to Kuantan
“..no higher than commonly mined mineral sands. The material does not trigger regulatory standards and is considered by the Department of Mines, the WA Radiological Council and the Australian Government to be too low in radiation levels to be regulated as a dangerous good”
Lynas produces three waste streams from the NORM ore being the NUF, FGD and WLP. The radioactive content of NUF and FGD are less than half that of Malaysian soil thus it is exempt (by ALL international standards).
The WLP with a radioactivity of 6.1Bq/g=6100Bq/kg is classified as Very Low Level Waste (in fact is on the borderline of Exempt Waste and VLLW). (https://twitter.com/i/#!/ahboytheone/media/slideshow?url=http://yfrog.com/h3xzhtzj ).
In Australia, the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANA) has outline the disposal approaches in the respective states according to the level of radioactivity.
http://www.arpansa.gov.au/pubs/norm/rhsac_disc.pdf page 21 ————– DISPOSAL APPROACHES BY AUSTRALIAN JURISDICTIONS New South Wales In NSW, a radioactive waste is a hazardous waste if the activity concentration is greater then 100,000 Bq kg-1 and the total activity exceeds either 40kBq, 400kBq, 4 MBq, or 40 MBq, depending on the radiotoxicity classification in Schedule 1 of the Radiation Control Regulation 1993. The consequence of becoming captured as a hazardous waste under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act (Waste) Regulation 1996 is severe, as there is no approved final instate disposal site.
Queensland Under the Radiation Safety Regulation 1999, the disposal of radioactive material into the air, water or sewerage system is allowed without the approval of the regulatory authority provided that the concentration of the radionuclide is not more than the concentration stated in the regulations. The disposal of a mineral substance, other than into the air, water or sewerage system, may occur, without the approval of the regulatory authority, if: Page 22 of 36 (a) the gross alpha and gross beta concentrations in the leachate is less than 10 times the concentration stated in the NHMRC and ARMCANZ ‘Australian Drinking Water Guidelines’; and (b) the concentration of the material is less than 10 times the IAEA Exemption levels. For all other disposal into the environment, a person must apply to the regulatory authority for an approval to dispose of the radioactive material. In this case, the applicant will be asked to demonstrate that no person in the critical group will receive in excess of 300microsieverts in a year as a consequence of the disposal.
South Australia Unrestricted disposal of materials containing radionuclide concentrations under 35,000 Bq kg-1 is allowed. Wastes containing radionuclide concentrations over 35,000 Bq kg-1 may be disposed of by burial if exemption is granted, based on dose estimates. Approval was granted in the past for disposal of wastes from an old radium refinery and uranium pilot operations, into the tailings dam of the former uranium mine at Radium Hill.
Victoria Victoria allows disposal on the basis of modelling scenarios that demonstrate that doses to members of the public will be 0.01 mSv per year or less. A NORM waste disposal facility is being planned at Dutson Downs, near Sale.
Western Australia Unrestricted disposal is allowed for radionuclide concentrations under 30,000 Bq kg-1, or (for mine sites) for modelling scenarios which predict doses to workers under 1 mSv per year and doses to members of the public under 0.5 mSv per year. The W.A. Dept. of Housing and Works operates an Intractable Wastes Disposal Facility at Mt Walton (100 km NW of Kalgoorlie), which accepts radioactive wastes including from industry and sealed sources from hospitals, but is legally prevented from accepting wastes produced outside W.A. ———————- In conclusion, the WLP which is the one currently the cause of concern is in fact not even considered dangerous by any means in Australia and according to the regulations as outlined by ARPANA and there are no restrictions at all in its disposal. It’s only people like you KCL, SMSL and one Spin Master Fuziah99 who don’t understand continue to complain when there is nothing to complain about and finally when actually given a Scientific Report says “I don’t Understand”.
LYC Price at posting:
89.5¢ Sentiment: Hold Disclosure: Held
(20min delay)