aelb on lynas: safe

KUALA LUMPUR: The Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) has confirmed that ongoing operations at the controversial Kuantan rare earth refinery operated by Australian miner Lynas Corp pose no apparent risk to locals and the environment.

"AELB has been monitoring Lynas continuously and the results show that Lynas has been operating safely and under control," a spokesman from its enforcement division told theantdaily.

The agency gave this assessment after monitoring the operations at the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) continuously to verify that it is complying with its TOL (Temporary Operating Licence) conditions since it began refining activity in November last year.

The plant has been operating under reduced capacity at one per cent of its expected 22,000 tonnes output during the trial run and has begun producing rare earth products since February this year, with a total of 253 tonnes produced and 218 tonnes shipped out as at September.

The regulatory body was asked to comment on a recent statement by the Austalian rare earth miner's vice-president and Malaysian subsidiary's managing director Datuk Mashal Ahmad that radiation and effluent levels from its LAMP operations are within "acceptable" local and international standards

Lynas had issued a six-page press release on Aug 1 on the matter, attached with current results of tests on air, radiation and water samples collected on-site and tested by an AELB-appointed third party independent laboratory to attest its claim.

Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL), an environmental NGO opposed to the rare earth refinery located in the Gebeng industrial park in Kuantan, had questioned regulatory body AELB's silence on the matter.

SMSL chairman Tan Bun Teet had also called for Lynas to release the raw test data to the public and the NGO so that all parties can look through the results.

Tan also accused Lynas of using its claims that discharges from LAMP operations fall within acceptable limits as a smokescreen to obscure concerns over its plans on what to do with the waste generated from refining operations, which is the greater concern.

AELB, however, affirmed that Lynas has already submitted a waste management plan that it has approved.

"Lynas has submitted its Radioactive Waste Management Plan [RWMP] which includes strategies for its long-term waste management. The RWMP was approved by the AELB prior to the issuance of the TOL," said the regulator.

Sourced: http://www.theantdaily.com/news/2013/11/13/atomic-licensing-board-declares-controversial-lynas-operations-safe