By Amanda Lacaze
I refer to the article entitled “Protests as Lynas plant gets three more years”, and published on Sept 3, 2016, in Free Malaysia Today.
I would like to correct several factual inaccuracies in the information provided by Himpunan Hijau.
In the article, Himpunan Hijau is quoted as follows: “Lynas’s commitments and written undertakings about the management of the radioactive water leach purification waste, and a location for permanent disposal, had yet to be fulfilled.”
It is important that your readers know that Lynas has fulfilled its commitments regarding waste management and a permanent disposal facility.
As Lynas has consistently explained, the process agreed between Lynas and Malaysia’s Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) was firstly to identify a commercial use for the Water Leach Purification (WLP) and if not successful to store the WLP in a permanent disposal facility (PDF).
The internationally recognised best practice in dealing with residues is to reuse the material in commercial applications, rather than to retain the material in long term storage.
Given the success to date of Lynas’ residue commercialisation programmes, the aim of Lynas is to ensure that material is reused safely, not stored in a PDF.
However, in accordance with regulatory requirements, Lynas has lodged with the regulatory authorities a PDF siting plan and a PDF planning framework.
In the meantime, material will continue to be stored onsite at the Lynas Advanced Material Plant (LAMP) in storage facilities that meet the design requirements of accepted permanent deposit facilities, including the materials used in construction and the management of the material.
Himpunan Hijau was also quoted saying, “Lynas has been allowed to illegally pile up massive amount of toxic radioactive wastes on our land for a shocking three more years.”
Lynas would like to clarify that all residues are inventoried and stored in regulatory approved storage facilities and these inventories are reported to the authorities on a regular basis, with the IAEA rating the Lynas operation as “intrinsically low risk”.
The LAMP has produced three solid residues known as NUF, FGD and WLP. NUF and FGD are not radioactive material, and they are non-toxic, non-carcinogenic, and non-ecotoxic.
NUF and FGD are safe for people and safe for the environment, too. While WLP has very low level radioactivity, it can easily be treated and made safe for people and safe for the environment. The Lynas commercialisation programmes have shown that each of these residues can be safely reused.
All licence conditions set by the AELB and Malaysia’s Department of Environment (DoE) have been met or exceeded by Lynas.
Amanda Lacaze is CEO and Managing Director of Lynas Corporation Limited
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