I try to simplify his letter as follows:
Ashton - Ashton Rare Earth Ltd (which was given the licence for the entire rare earth processing and waste disposal facilities in 1992, now under Lynas)
LAMP - Lynas Advanced Materials Plant in Gebeng, Pahang
Ashton's waste is VLLW - Very Low Level Waste
LAMP's waste is LLW - Low Level Waste (ie. more hazardous than VLLW)
"If such meticulous waste disposal method is deemed necessary for VLLW in Australia, greater care should be undertaken for the more hazardous LLW."
"An examination of Ashton's proposal and the 41 commitments tied to the approval shows that very strict environmental control measures have been imposed in Australia. As a matter of fact, looking at the way they are allowed to carry out their operations here in Gebeng, it is inconceivable that Australia will allow the LAMP to be built in such a state. Of the many aspects of operation that can be, and should be juxtaposed, I shall only address the waste management of the radioactive residue in this report."
"Ashton originally proposed that the rare earth ore mined from Mt Welt be first semi-refined at the mining site. After that, the concentrate is to be transported by road to a secondary processing plant 880km away in Meenaar Industrial Park for final processing. Finally, the mildly radioactive waste was to be transported back to Mt Welt for burial."
"The nearest population centre to Mt Weld is Laverton, located 35 km away, which had a population of 1,500 at the time of the proposal, but has only 316 at present. Although the sparse population density of Mt Weld was not specifically mentioned as a factor in the selection of the disposal site, the selection of the secondary processing site at Meenaar was."
Dr Lee has correctly pointed out that the IAEA review of Lynas' operation ignored one of the critical general safety guides in the Radioactive Waste Classification. IAEA No. GSG-1. "It is recommended by the IAEA GSG, this waste requires robust isolation and containment for periods of up to a few hundred years and is suitable for disposal in engineered near surface facilities".
"Not only has Lynas not disclosed their permanent disposal and decommissioning plans, they have originally intended for the site in Gebeng to be the final resting place for the radioactive waste. In contrast with the 1,500 affected by Ashton's proposal, 700,000 people in the Greater Kuantan-Kemaman area falls within the 35 km radius from the Gebeng plant."
The only logical reason for Lynas to choose Malaysia as the final processing site is to circumvent Australian tight environmental regulations by exporting rare earth pollution here.
This is only the tip of the iceberg on the huge discrepancies between the Ashton proposal and the operation in Gebeng.
Regulatory requirements on other areas of operation, such as transportation, water management, and pollution monitoring are equally stringent. Therefore, one can surmise that Lynas' flaunting its Australian license is merely a stunt in public relations.
If the Ashton's proposal is a testament on how rare earth processing should have been done, the LAMP is a disaster waiting to happen if it is allowed to proceed.
Are our politicians so insensitive to the likely dangers to the people in and near Gebeng as outlined by various parties, that they are going along with the company's project? Japan has just suffered the effects of radioactive leaks from its nuclear plants and certain countries in Europe are considering alternative sources of fuel, yet we seem oblivious to the long term consequences of such processing plants. We had problems with Asian Rare Earth in Perak before, yet we do not seem to want to learn from our mistake. Is it because the immediate gains are too tempting and the political leaders won't be around when the consequences will be felt?
No comments:
Post a Comment