Assalamualaikum & Salam 1 Malaysia
For this time, CST try to explain to you all about LYNAS. For sure everyone feel shock why CST suddenly make a post in English right? That not impossible for everyone as a student "Mahasiswa" to write or speak in English. So, for today post, CST will share about "FALSE Allegations and the FACTS" about LYNAS.
Let's me show you..
ALLEGATION
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FACTS
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1. Lynas takes advantage of weaknessesin Malaysian Law by proposing
China standard - FALSE
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The issue of Lynas taking advantage of weaknesses in Malaysia’s Law
is not true. Malaysia’s Law on radiological safety and health is at par if
not stricter than any those used internationally. Lynas has never proposed
the used of any China’s standard.
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2. Australian Law restricts consrtruction of such plant within 35km
radius of residential area - FALSE
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There is no such Australian law or even other international law. The
nearest town to Mt Weld happens to be laverton which is 35km away. This
distance has been misquoted by the opposition as the Australian requirement.
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3. Lynas brought in lanthanide concentrate without license - FALSE
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Lynas did not and has never brought in any lanthanide concentrate
into Malaysia. Lynas respects all legal requirement of the government of
Malaysia. The logistical trial run carried out by Lynas using an empty
container was mislead by some as importing the lanthanide concentrate.
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4. Lynas came to Malaysia to avoid strict Australian rules – FALSE
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Lynas did not come to Malaysia to avoid the strict Australian rules.
Malaysia’s regulatory requirements is equal to or stricter than that of
Australia. Lynas came into Malaysia because:
a) The investment climate was conducive and competitive.
B) of the optimum resources including infrastructure required to
support her operation. Gebeng, in specific, has the required port facilities,
reliable support facilities (utilities), technically competent work force and
reliable utilities.
c) of clear regulatory requirements critical to investment decision.
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5. Lynas was chased out from Terengganu due to environmental reason –
FALSE
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NO, Lynas was never chased out from Terengganu. In fact Lynas met
environmental requirements of the AELB and DOE.
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6. Lynas is a Nuclear plant – FALSE
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Lynas is NOT a nuclear plant but simple chemical processing plant
operating at atmospheric pressure and ambient temperature. Therefore, there
will be no fire or explosion that will cause radioactive dispersion and
contamination into the environment similar to a nuclear plant accident.
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7. Lynas is the same as Asian Rare Earth (ARE) – FALSE
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Lynas is NOT the same as ARE. ARE uses monazite as raw material.
Monazite extracted from tin tailings contains 43 times more radioactivity
than Lynas raw material. ARE’s residue is also 48 times more radioactive.
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8. Environment will be polluted because the plant is located in a
swampy land with shallow water table – FALSE
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Lynas original site is about 2 m above the water table. The site has
been prepared by replacing with 1.4 m local fill making the site now 3.4 m
above the water table. The RSF is built on top (not excavated!!) of the new
site. The base of the temporary storage facility is 0.75 m thick, making its
base about 4.15 m above the water table. The wall of the storage facility is
9 m high.
How does Lynas prevent radioactive material from polluting the
water?
a. Thorium is not soluble in water and thus can be precipitated and
separated out.
b. HDPE liner will prevent leaching.
c. Clay (layer below the HDPE) has very low permeability to water and
that will further prevent any possible leaching.
d. Thorium has strong affinity (stick strongly) for clay, thereby
further reducing leaching.
e. An under liner leak detection system (ULLDS) monitors and detects
any possible leak.
f. Sampling of water quality to meet 34 parameters specified by DOE
and AELB prior to discharge.
g. Underground water quality is monitored routinely.
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9. Lynas will cause radioactive rain from the gas released by the
stack – FALSE
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Radioactive rain assumes the releases if high activity concentrations
of radionuclides into the air. This will not happen with Lynas operation
because Radiological Impact Assessment of a worst case scenario (i.e.
uncontrolled release) estimated that stack release may only contribute
0.002mSv/year to the public, i.e. 500x less than the Mas Permissible Dose
Limit for members of the public set by the AELB (1 mSv/year)
How does Lynas prevent radioactive material from polluting the
air?
a. A 5-stage waste gas treatment plant installed to ensure release of
clean air specified by DOE.
b. Routine air sampling carried out around the plant as specified by
DOE and AELB
c. Aerosol Monitoring System (AMS) installed on site and at IPD
Kuantan to monitor radiation level in the air.
d. Continuous Emission Monitoring System (CEMS) installed at the
stack to monitor quality of air emission.
e. AMS and CEMS are monitored real-time and online.
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10. The plant use a lot of acid that can contaminate the soil – FALSE
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How does Lynas prevent soil contamination?
a. All process area are built on bunded secondary containment
concrete structure. Any acid spill will be contained in the bund and will not
come into contact with the ground.
b. Residues are stored in an engineered Residue Storage Facility
(RSF) to prevent contamination of underground soil.
c. Residues in the RSF are kept wet to prevent contamination of
surface soil
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11. Lynas did not carry out study on internal radiation exposure –
FALSE
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Lynas carries out RIA in accordance to all regulatory requirements
and IAEA standards. RIA is an assessment of total dose and risks to critical
targets (e.g. workers and public) calculated based on all possible exposure
pathways. This means that both external and internal exposures were already
considered.
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12. Lynas operation will induce cancer and caused deformed newborns –
FALSE
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Ministry of Health, reported cancer prevalence = 720 cases per
million (MOH, 2007)
Even without Lynas plant, the estimated fatal cancer from background
radiation at Lynas site ≈ 35 cases per million (RIA)
When Lynas plant is in operation, the estimated fatal cancer to the
public from Lynas operation ≈ 0.1 case per million (RIA) [from
0.002 mSv/y]
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13. Radon and Thoron can travel thousands of miles and cause health
problems – FALSE
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During Lynas operation the dose rates at Lynas outside fence :
a. Radon = 0.00002 mSv/yr
b. Thoron = 0.002 mSv/yr
Radon and Thoron are radioactive gases with very short half lives and
will not travel far. This means that once formed these radionuclides will
immediately transform into solid and will never travel any significant
distances from the plant.
Aerosol Monitoring System (AMS) installed on site and at IPD Kuantan
to monitor radiation level in the air.
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14. No level of radioactivity is safe – FALSE
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Radiation is all around us. Some areas in Perak, Selangor and
Langkawi have higher than the average Malaysia’s level of radiation but posed
no hazardous consequences. Radiation is also used in the medical field.
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15. Lynas bring no benefits to Malaysia and Kuantan – FALSE
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FDI value of RM 2.5 billion with annual OPEX of RM 600 million. Total
contracts for Malaysian contractors is RM 1,168 million of which RM 513
million is for Kuantan contractors.
Employment: direct employee 350, contract staff 300, indirect
employment by supporting industries 1000
Potential downstreamindustry, Siemen – Lynas JV employment for 1200
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16. The residue will be stored permanently at the site – FALSE
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No residue will be stored permanently on-site. Even though the RSF is
a temporary storage facility it was designed and built to international standards
of permanent storage facility.
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17. Lynas produce 3200 ton of WLP per year with 0,165% Thorium i.e.
50 ton of Thorium per year – MISLEADING & CAUSING FEAR
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Firstly, the allegation implies that Lynas is extracting or
concentrating the Thorium in WLP. Lynas operation is neither extracting nor
concentrating the Thorium content.
Secondly, although the volume is large the concentration remains the
same.
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18. Lynas declares the residue as non radioactive based on China
standard of 74 Bq/g – FALSE
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From the very beginning, Lynas has declared to the AELB that its raw
material and WLP contain low level naturally occurring radionuclides.
Lynas has and will comply to Malaysia and internationally safety
standards.
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19. Australia requires waste to be returned to mine – FALSE
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No such law in Australia. Waste will be stored in accordance with
Malaysia’s regulatory requirements.
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20. Lynas Malaysia is managed by Australians – FALSE
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Lynas Malaysia is fully manned and managed by Malaysians with five
Rare Earth experts from China and India.
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21. AkzoNobel withdraw resin supply on the ground of substandard
engineering – FALSE
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AkzoNobel is a chemical company which manufactures resin but not
apply the resin lining, nor certify the work.
Hence Lynas made a business decision to change the contract services
for integrated resin sourcing, application and certification of the concrete
tanks to Trepax who has over 20 years experience in the petrochemicals
industry across Asia. Trepax is applying a vinylester resin to meet
international industry standard “Derakane 411” from the worldwide leader in
Vinylester.
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22. Claimed that 14 out of the 19 pipe network packages in the
project had leaks – FALSE
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It is a common practice in Petro Chemical industries that pipes need
to be tested according to international standard to identify leaks and
rectified accordingly before being put in service. The pipe is tested 50%
above the design pressure or 70% above the operating pressure.
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23. Conflict of interest for Prof Ismail Bahari to be Radiological
Adviser to Lynas and also a board member for AELB – FALSE
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Prof Ismail Bahari has resigned from AELB board before assuming the
role of Lynas ‘ Radiological Safety Adviser. He attend only 1 board meeting
but matters pertaining to Lynas license application was not discussed in that
meeting.
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So now,CST think that everyone know which are the FACTS and which are FALSE.
If you want a further clarification, you all can contact:
Arazmi Juhari - Senior Manager SHES ( 09-5825221)
Prof Dr Ismail Bahari - Radiological Safety Advisor (09-5825890)
Mimi Afzan Afza - Senior Manager Human Resource, Admin & Community (09-5825209)
As a "Mahasiswa Hebat" we all can compared and know which are the true and the best for the future of our country.
