lamp will not increase cancer

LAMP will not increase cancer rate’
Stephanie Sta Maria | April 13, 2012 The estimated malignant cancer rate would only increase by 0.1 case per million when LAMP starts operating, says the Malaysian company.
KUALA LUMPUR: Lynas Malaysia Sdn Bhd has publicly smacked down allegations that its rare earth plant in Gebeng would see a rise in cancer cases.

The company’s managing director, Mashal Ahmad, reminded the public and media at a dialogue session last night of a report by the Health Ministry in 2007 which put the number of cancer patients at 720 cases per million in the country.

“Without the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant [LAMP] in operation, the background radiation would cause an increase of malignant cancer at 35 cases per million a year,” he said.

“Based on my calculations – and these calculations are accepted by the International Association of Radiologists – when the LAMP is in operation the estimated malignant cancer rate would only increase by 0.1 case per million.”

Marshal’s conclusion differs from that of the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) which in June last year warned that the radon and thoron (by-products of rare earth processing) would enter the body directly and raise the risk of malignant cancers.

He, however, pointed out that the radon and thoron dose rates at Lynas entrance were found to be only 0.00002 microsievert a year (mSv/year) and 0.002 mSv/year respectively.

“Radon and thoron are radioactive gases with very short half lives and will not travel far,” he said. “So there is no way it will reach those in Balok, Kuantan and the rest of the country.”

Mashal added that he was not denying that the LAMP would emit radiation but emphasised that the level was 10 times less than what a person would be exposed to from watching television for four hours.

‘Misleading allegations’

He also hit out at anti-Lynas groups for accusing Lynas of exaggerating the total amount of thorium that would be contained in its water leach purification (WLP) residue.

Lynas’ detractors have said that with 32,000 tonnes of WLP produced a year at 0.165% thorium per tonne, the end-result would be 50 tonnes of thorium a year.

“Firstly, the allegation implies that Lynas is extracting or concentrating the thorium in the WLP which we are not,” Mashal said. “Secondly, although the volume is large the concentration remains the same.”

“If I stirred one spoonful of sugar into three cups of water each and then poured it all into a jug, the level of sweetness wouldn’t have changed from what it was in one cup. Such allegations are misleading and only cause fear among the public.”

Yet another allegation that he included under the category of “misleading information” was that Lynas chose Malaysia because it was booted out of Australia and China.

Mashal urged the public to listen to the facts which, according to him, was that despite being accepted by both countries, Lynas chose Malaysia for economical reasons.

He explained that the plant in Meenar Industrial Park, Australia, was situated in the desert some 1,000km from Perth, which was a challenge as the LAMP needed water the equivalent of three Olympic-sized swimming pools a day.

Political mud-slinging

“One cubic metre of water costs RM6 in Australia compared with 84 sen here,” Mashal said. “The cost of caustic soda and electricity is also cheaper here, plus all the raw materials we need are just a phone call away in Gebeng.”

He also said Lynas had decided to leave China as the country constantly changed its operational guidelines.

“So Lynas came here because Malaysia is economically sound, has a clear set of guidelines, good infrastructure and political stability,” Mashal said. “It is a foreign company that has invested in Malaysia and has been dragged into political mud-slinging.”

Mashal clarified that Malaysia had not forked out a single cent for what he said is Australia’s biggest investment here. He also stressed that Lynas Malaysia is 100% owned by Lynas Australia and has no Malaysian shareholders.

“We have 350 full-time employees, 300 contract staff and indirectly support 1,000 more employees in related industries,” he said.

“I am helping 1,650 families put food on their table. You [anti-Lynas groups] can’t even create one job but you want to destroy 1,650 jobs.”