Rare earths from Mount Weld to Kuantan � Lynas Corp
May 21, 2011
MAY 21 � Lynas and its people share a strong set of values, which include operating in a safe, honest, candid and transparent manner, as well as always to respect and contribute to the communities in which we live and work in.
Some statements made recently by various political and special interest groups and posted on social network blogs are factually inaccurate and misleading. Lynas wants to address the issues raised.
In June 2009, the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) granted Lynas approval for safe transport of rare earths from the Mount Weld mine to the Fremantle Port in Australia. The EPA concluded that there was no radiation risk to public health or to the environment. Lynas is confident that our processes and procedures will continue to meet all required regulations and are completely safe.
To be clear, the Mount Weld Rare Earth concentrate is not classified as Dangerous Goods by the criteria of the Australian Dangerous Goods Code (ADG Code) for transport by road or rail, and is not classified as Dangerous Goods for transport by sea (International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code 2006).
The Lynas Rare Earths concentrate has been irresponsibly compared to Magellan Metals lead carbonate concentrate. There can be no comparison between the two. Magellan�s lead carbonate concentrate is a toxic material classified as a dangerous good. The Lynas Rare Earths concentrate is not classified as a dangerous good.
In terms of thorium levels, the statements made on May 18, 2011 by Lynn McLaren MLC and Robin Chapple MLC and posted on an external blog, represent a personal, political point of view and contain a number of factual and scientific inaccuracies.
The Mount Weld Rare Earths concentrate is not considered a radioactive material. The levels of the naturally occurring thorium are so low in the concentrate that the material is not regulated for transport as classified by the criteria of the Australian Code of Practice for the Safe Transport of Radioactive Material 2001 and not regulated for transport as classified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Safe Transport of Radioactive Material regulations. We follow Australian government�s approved transport and radiation management plans and all of our workers and contractors are fully trained in safely handling the product.
Finally, to address questions on safe storage at the LAMP plant in Malaysia, the Radiological Impact Assessment completed by Nuclear Malaysia on the storage of these residues shows them to be safe, posing no risk to the public.
However, Lynas has taken the additional safety step of placing these residues in safe, reliable engineered storage cells that are designed so that there is no possibility for any leakage of material into the environment. These storage cells are monitored and regulated by both Lynas and Malaysia�s Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) to ensure full compliance within the approval conditions.
Lynas is subjected to strict conditions by the AELB. One of the conditions refers to the end of life of the plant and Lynas must obtain a decommissioning licence, which includes the safe storage of any of the remaining residues. Lynas has also agreed to place funds with the Malaysian government to ensure safe management of any remaining residues as required by the AELB.
Lynas began its education effort in Kuantan in 2009 with a series of public briefings. The presentation may be viewed on our Facebook page, facebook.com/lynasmalaysia.
We continue to engage with the public through social media, answering very specific questions about the plant. Furthermore, Lynas welcomes the appointment of independent panel currently studying our plans for the LAMP plant in Kuantan.
We hope that the conclusions reached next month by this panel of experts will address the public concerns.
* Lynas Corp is a public-listed Australian company operating the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant in Kuantan, Pahang.
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified
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