A CHUNK OF THORIUM IS NO MORE HARMFUL THAN A BAR OF SOAP
1. It is safer and cleaner than uranium because its radioactivity is significantly lower:
Quote Richard Martin, famous journalist with extensive experience in Thorium
"A CHUNK OF THORIUM IS NO MORE HARMFUL THAN A BAR OF SOAP".
You can safely hold metallic Thorium-232 in your hands as it is an alpha emitter and alpha particles cannot penetrate even a piece of paper.
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2. Thorium-232 is strongly adsorbed to clay. There is no natural way it can get into body. Even the plants and fruits do not contain any Thorium in places with high Thorium in soil.
The amount of Th-232 in the human body is tiny (estimated to be only 30 micrograms per body i.e. to get 30 gm of Th-232, you need 1 million bodies!
NICK TSURIKOV, INTERNATIONAL RADIATION SAFETY SPECIALIST
THORIUM IN "WASTE" IS INSOLUBLE AND CANNOT POISON ANY PLANTS, ANIMALS OR THE ENVIRONMENT - EVEN IN THEORY.
RADIATION FROM THE PLANT WILL BE UNDETECTABLE OUTSIDE THE BOUNDARIES (of the plant)."
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3. QUOTE NICK TSURIKOV, INTERNATIONAL RADIATION SAFETY EXPERT WHO IS THE CO-AUTHOR OF IAEA RADIATION SAFETY REPORT:
"On dust particles - THERE IS NO WAY WHATSOEVER FOR
DUST PARTICLES OF AROUND 10 MICRONS TO GET INTO
THE LUNGS -
THE STUFF THAT GETS THERE IS 5 MICRONS OR LESS,..
The vast majority of the (Lynas) concentrate is either 10 MICRONS or above, SO THERE WOULD NOT BE ANY ISSUE HERE."
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4. BECAUSE OF THE EXTREME LOW SPECIFIC ACTIVITY OF TH-232, THE AMOUNT OF DECAY PRODUCT IS MINUSCULE e.g.
Thorium-232 produced from the WLP per year is only about 95 tonnes and as such a 1 year accumulation of Th-232 produces only 0.5098 MICROGRAMS OF RADON-220/HR OR 0.00005172 ML (CC)/HR of Thoron gas at STP.
At secular equilibrium, the amount of daughter Radon-220 is only 167 femtograms per ton of Lynas WLP i.e.
0.000000000000167 grams.
THIS AMOUNT IS NOT ENOUGH TO TICKLE THE BACKSIDE OF A NEWBORN PIGMY BABY CATERPILLAR !
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5. THE longer the half-life of a substance, the less its radioactivity.
As an analogy, if it takes 14 billion years for half of a house to be burnt, there is no chance of anybody getting hurt. But if it takes only 14 minutes for half of the house to be burnt down, many will be injured or killed.
Thorium-232, which is found in the Lynas waste, has an incredibly long half-life of 14 billion years and as such is much less radioactive than the potassium-40 whose half-life is only 1.25 billion years
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6. LEAD-208 WHICH IS USED IN YOUR CAR BATTERIES HAVE AN EVEN LONGER HALF LIFE OF 19 MILLION BILLION YEARS AND AS SUCH IS REGARDED AS NON-RADIOACTIVE...i.e. it decays extremely slowly and therefore the radioactivity is incredible low!
So it's silly and illogical to say that thorium long half life means that it is dangerous.. It means that is very only very weakly radioactive and can even be held in your hands!
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7. KEROSENE GAS MANTLES USED IN HAWKER'S LAMPS THESE GAS MANTLES ARE MADE OF FABRIC SOAKED IN THORIUM-232 AND AFTER THE INITIAL "FIRING" BECOMES ALMOST PURE THORIUM DIOXIDE.
MILLIONS HAD HELD THESE "DANGEROUS, RADIOACTIVE" THORIUM GAS MANTLES IN THEIR HANDS.
REMEMBER THORIUM DIOXIDE HAS A SPECIFIC ACTIVITY OF 3,585 Bq/g ! THE "WASTE" FROM LYNAS IS ONLY 6 Bq/g.
WHY FRIGHTEN OF 6 Bq/g FROM WASTE AND NOT WORRIED ABOUT THE 3,585 Bq/g FROM THEIR KEROSENE LAMP ?
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8. THE ANNUAL DOSE RATE EXPOSURE
1. FROM MALAYSIAN CLAY BRICK HOUSE = 0.43 mSv/year (215 x Lynas Worst Case Scenario)
2. SLEEPING IN WOODEN HOUSE = 0.20 mSv/yr (100x Lynas worst case)
3. SLAG BRICK AND GRANITE HOUSE = up to 2.0 mSv/yr (1,000x Lynas worst case)
SO TO ALL ANTI-LYNAS FOLKS, YOU SHOULD PITCH UP A TENT NEXT TO THE LYNAS PLANT AND SEND YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY TO LIVE NEXT TO LYNAS AS THIS IS HUNDREDS OF TIMES LESS RADIOACTIVE THAN LIVING IN YOUR PRESENT WOODEN OR BRICK HOUSES
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9.
1. WASTE FROM MALAYSIAN AMANG INDUSTRY > 100 Bq/g
2. WASTE "SCALE AND SLUDGE" IN OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY
________ LIKE IN PETRONAS = 1,000 Bq/g
3. and ___Lynas WLP only = 6 Bq/g !
SO WHY NO GREENIES PROTESTS AT THE MORE THAN 10 AMANG ( TIN TAILING ) PLANTS AND AT PETRONAS ?
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10 Nick Tsurikov, Radiation Safety Expert " THE MAJORITY OF THIS LYNAS "WASTE" WILL HAVE ONLY HALF THE THORIUM THAN IN NORMAL MALAYSIAN SOIL.
Lynas residues are half as radioactive as the sand the kids all over Malaysia play in the kindergartens
If you do look through the Lynas RIA together with UN (not IAEA) reports -
you will clearly see that two most 'voluminous' residues from LAMP will have less than 12 parts per million of thorium -
and the average MALAYSIAN SOIL - 20 ppm OF THORIUM.
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11. IN MOST OF THE ADVANCED COUNTRIES LIKE THE USA, CANADA AND AUSTRALIA WHERE THERE ARE NO HALF BAKED SELF STYLED SCIENTISTS, ANY MATERIAL THAT HAS AN ACTIVITY OF LESS THAN 10 Bq/g is regarded as non-radioactive for transport and do not require any special permission.
LYNAS ORE = ONLY 6 Bq/g AND THEREFORE REQUIRES NO SPECIAL PERMISSION IN MOST OF THE DEVELOPED COUNTRIES.
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12. THE MOST BIOLOGICALLY DAMAGING FORMS OF GAMMA RAYS OCCUR IN THE GAMMA RAY WINDOW OF BETWEEN 3 MeV AND 10 MeV.
Those below 3.0 MeV are NOT very harmful. They have poor penetrating power and do not deposit much energy.
Those higher energy gamma rays of greater than 10 MeV are NOT very harmful because the body is relatively transparent to them.
THE AVERAGE ENERGY OF THE MOST ABUNDANT EMISSION OF Th-232 IS ONLY 0.059 MeV.
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13. UNSCEAR ADMIT THAT THEY WERE WRONG TO IMPLY THAT THERE IS NO SAFE LEVEL OF RADIATION !
There IS a safe level !
UNSCEAR (THE UNITED NATIONS SCENTIFIC COMMITTEE ON THE EFFECTS OF ATOMIC RADIATION) HAS FINALLY ADMITTED THAT RADIATION DOSES LESS THAN ABOUT 10 rem (100 mSv ) per year ARE SAFE.
(Note: 100 mSv = 5,000,000 % Lynas worst case scenario)
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14. RADIATION EXPOSURE OF 100 mSv/yr IS SAFE: Prof WADE ALLISON
Nick Tsurikov, International Radiation Safety Expert:
"EXPERTS INCLUDING Professor WADE ALLISON OF OXFORD UNIVERSITY ARGUE THAT THE DOSE LIMIT CAN SAFELY BE RAISED TO 100 mSv, based on current health statistics."
(100 mSv/yr = 50,000 times or 5,000,000% higher than Lynas worst case scenario)
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15. SLEEPING NEXT TO SOMEONE for 8 hrs/day (e.g. your wife or husband) = 0.02 mSv (UNSCEAR) (10x Lynas worst case)
SO DON'T SLEEP WITH YOUR WIFE OR HUSBAND since this is like sleeping next to 10 Lynas plants!
Dose in worst case scenario for Lynas plant = 0.002 mSv/yr
Malaysian Monazite Ore in Tin Tailings or Amang = 284 Bq/g or 69,608 ppm
Lynas ore and Lynas WLP "waste" ~ 6 Bq/g or < 1,600 ppm
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16. THE FINISHED PROCESSED RARE EARTH PRODUCT EMITS ONLY 0.156 mSv/yr ( A TARMAC ROAD EMITS 2.4 TO 2.6 mSv/yr ! ) - so a fraction of what people in everyday life naturally experience.
The radiation from a tarmac road comes from Thorium-232, Uranium-238, Potassium-40, Radium and other trace radionuclides in the Tar and the Granite stones.
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17. When the mother radionuclide has an extremely long half life and the daughters have very short half life, there is very little accumulation of the short half life daughters.
The concentration of the daughter radionuclides is negligible e.g. there is only 1 atom of Radium 224 for every 1.4 trillion atoms of Thorium-232 at equilibrium.
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18. As far as radon gas is concerned, it must be remembered that Radon-220 from the decay chain of Thorium-232 has a very short half life of only 55 seconds!
As such only a tiny amount of Radon-220 (a.k.a. Thoron) within a few centimetres of the surface of a huge pile of waste will be able to live long enough to escape from the pile and see the light of day!
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19. A lot of people have mistaken Radon-220 from Thorium-232 decay series with the more notorious Radon-222 which has a much longer half life of 3.8 days. Radon-222 comes from Uranium-238 decay series.
Because of its much longer half life, Radon-222 can and do accumulate in the cellars and poorly ventilated areas of domestic dwellings. Radon-222 is the gas that has been linked to lung cancers in especially non-smokers.
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20. K-40 is always in your body, Th-232 is never in your body in any significant amount.
Since the average absorbed Beta energy of K-40 decay is 499 keV and the average absorbed Gamma energy is 156 keV,
THE INTERNAL DOSAGE from K-40 ~ 0.24 mSv/yr: (120x Lynas worst case scenario)
So why complain about radiation from Lynas when there is the equivalent of 120 Lynas plants producing radiation already inside your body in the form of Potassium-40 !
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21. AS STATED BY MORMAN FREDERICK MOORE, THE AUSTRALIAN MINISTER FOR MINES AND PETROLEUM, IF LYNAS HAVE CHOSEN TO OPERATE IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA, IT WOULD BE WELCOMED WITH OPEN ARMS !
1. Alkane has decided to build a multi-billion dollar rare earth plant in the outskirts of Sydney.
2. Arafura is building a huge Rare Earth Processing Plant costing over A$1 Billion in Whyalla in South Australia.
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22. Since the average absorbed Beta energy of K-40 decay is 499 keV and the average absorbed Gamma energy is 156 keV,
THE INTERNAL DOSAGE from K-40 ~ 0.24 mSv/yr: (120x Lynas worst case scenario)
So why complain about radiation from Lynas when there is the equivalent of 120 Lynas plants producing radiation already inside your body in the form of Potassium-40 !
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23. There is no natural way for Metallic Thorium or insoluble Thorium compounds or even soluble salts when adsorbed with clay, to enter the body in any significant amount and as Nick Tsurikov, International Radiation Safety Expert and Co-author of IAEA Radiation Safety Report says
"THORIUM IN 'WASTE' IS INSOLUBLE AND CANNOT POISON ANY PLANTS, ANIMALS OR THE ENVIRONMENT - EVEN IN THEORY." Unquote.
There has not been a single death or injury that has been definitely and conclusively proven beyond any scientific doubt from the accidental inhalation or ingestion of Thorium-232 !
Compare this with death caused by Water i.e. from drowning... 388,000 drowning deaths in 2004 alone (WHO).
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24. Metallic Thorium or it's insoluble compounds are chemically innocuous and inert especially when adsorbed by clay.
Soluble form in the absence of clay absorption = 0.02 to 0.05%. With clay, much much less.
Studies show that a small number out of the 4 million patients who were given this massive dose of 1 or 2 vials (containing 5.58g to 11.7g of thorium) of Thorotrast, developed cancer especially of the liver 20 to 30 years later in their old age.
Even if we ignore the incredibly strong adsorption to clay, in order to get 5.58g of thorium-232 (equivalent to 1 vial of Thorotrast), we have to swallow an incredible 17,000kg or 17 tonnes of Lynas waste!
Even with 11.7 g of Th-232 given parenterally, no acute toxicity noted.
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25. Thorium-232 is not a Carcinogen (cancer causing agent) if Inhaled or Ingested according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer IARC.
Thorium-232 is considered to be a carcinogen only IF ADMINISTERED INTRAVENOUSLY AS A COLLOIDAL DISPERSION OF THORIUM-232 DIOXIDE.
Even this may not be true as the carcinogenic effects of the massive dose of Xray from those antique Xray machines (about 1,000 mSv per fluoroscopy and some of the 4 million patients may have had more than one fluoroscopy done in their lifetime) was not taken in consideration when IARC came to the conclusion that Th-232 given parenterally is a carcinogen.
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26. Study by scientists at John Hopkins University published in 1988 by American Journal of Epidemiology, concluded that, their study plus the fact that there is NO CONGENITAL DEFECTS DEMONSTRATED IN STUDIES ON THE ATOMIC BOMB SURVIVORS IN HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI, suggests that
LOW DOSE RADIATION CANNOT CAUSE CONGENITAL DEFECTS.
Even UNSCEAR has now admitted THAT RADIATION DOSES of LESS THAN ABOUT 10 rem (100 mSv ) per year ARE SAFE.
(Note: 100 mSv = 5,000,000 % Lynas worst case scenario)
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27. The average Malaysian soil ~ 20 parts per million of thorium
So the top metre of soil (SG ~ 2.5) in a Malaysian garden of 10 x 40 metres will contain
20 Kilograms of thorium-232 ! or
81,600,000 Bq of activity !
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28. COMPARISON OF RADIOACTIVITY IN Bq (number of atoms decaying in 1second)
Pure Thorium-232 = 4,080 Bq/gm
Pure Potassium-40 = 254,000 Bq/gm
Naturally Occurring Potassium (3 different isotopes) in our body and food = 31.825 Bq/gm
Artificially created Plutonium-238 = 634,000,000,000 Bq/gm (1/2 life=87.7 years)
Polonium-210 from Uranium-238 decay = 166,000,000,000,000 Bq/gm (1/2 life=138 days)
Monazite ore from Amang or Tin Tailings in Malaysia = 284 Bq/gm
Lynas Rare Earth Waste = 6 Bq/gm
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29. Christoph Wilhelm from the Karlsruhr Institute of Technology, the man in charge of decommissioning Germany’s nuclear plants inspected the LAMP re radiation safety and made the comment
“I would move my wife and young children to live in that plant because the background radiation is lower than where I live in Germany.”
(20min delay)