Archive for the ‘wastes’ Category

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Doubts about Lynas’ proposal to commecially dispose of its rare earths processing wastes

April 28, 2012

The anti-Lynas groups also questioned today whether the market “can fully absorb the colossal amount produced given that Lynas will be producing at least 300,000 tonnes of contaminated waste every year.”

Locals say market won’t buy Lynas’ recycled waste, ww.themalaysianinsider.com/mobile/malaysia/article/locals-say-market-wont-buy-lynas-recycled-waste/ The Malaysian Insider ,21 April,  By Shannon Teoh KUALA LUMPUR, — Lynas Corp’s plans to recycle waste from its controversial RM2.5 billion rare earth plant in Kuantan into a commercial product will not be accepted by the market, local residents opposed to the refinery said today.(Jan 26 )

The Stop Lynas Coalition (SLC) and Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL) groups said in a joint submission to the government that the synthetic gypsum the Australian miner hopes to produces from its waste is the subject of an international safety campaign due to radiation fears.

“The use of phospho-gypsum plaster-board and plaster cement in buildings as a substitute for natural gypsum may constitute an additional source of radiation exposure to both workers and members of the public,” the document quoted from Internet-based environmental organisation Zero Waste America.
“The American Gypsum Association does not accept gypsum made with contaminated materials. Contaminated gypsum in the USA has resulted in a class action against the supplier and the importers,” the groups said. (more…)

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Lack of a clear plan for final disposal of Lynas’ rare earths wastes

April 28, 2012

Unlike the Lynas plant, the other three refineries’ radioactive wastes are sent back to the respective mines.

“Lynas has no concrete radioactive waste management plan. Lynas claims it can store its waste onsite forever.

The Lynas plant, she added, would have 500 tonnes of liquid discharge per hour channelled into the Balok River.

Lynas whitewashing refinery safety concerns, says Fuziah, The Malaysian Insider, By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal April 16, 2012 KUALA LUMPUR,  — PKR’s Fuziah Salleh has accused Lynas Corp of whitewashing safety concerns of its planned refinery in Kuantan by claiming there is a “concerted political campaign” against the plant’s construction,
In response, Fuziah  accused the Lynas Corp head of “deviating” from the real issue of safety, saying that a simple comparative study showed the Lynas refinery did not support any form of “sustainable development.”

“They are not addressing concerns of safety, whitewashing safety concerns, silent about safety issues. “They have only addressed radiation aspects, external radiation… they are narrow-minded in terms of perspective of radiation,” the PKR vice-president told The Malaysian Insider. (more…)

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The long-drawn out and costly effort to clean up MOAB’s uranium tailings

April 28, 2012
Lack of funding to slow cleanup of uranium tailings (includes video) KSL.com Utah By Geoff Liesik , 13 April 12,  MOAB — Environmental crews have removed more than 5 million tons of radioactive tailings from the banks of the Colorado River in less than three years.

They still have about 11 million tons to go, but the pace of the cleanup is about to slow down.

Portage Inc., the company set to take over the job April 29, has announced that it will suspend work on the Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action project for three months each year during the term of its contract……

Graham is worried that the reduced funding for the project — the primary factor in Portage’s switch to a nine-month work schedule — will have an impact not only on the area’s economy but on the environment.

The initial plan called for the cleanup to be completed by 2019, Graham said.

“The rate they’re talking about at this moment means the pile would take another 17 years to move,” she said. ”That is unacceptable to us and we’re hoping it’s unacceptable to the people downriver from us.”

Metzler acknowledged that “the funding these days is probably not as much as some people in the community would like to see.”… The Grand County Council has signed a letter to Energy Secretary Steven Chu that asks for at least another $5 million for the UMTRA project.

“There are 22 signees on to the letter,” Graham said. “So it’s not just little old Grand County down here kicking and screaming and throwing a temper tantrum. It’s lots of people, lots of organizations that are concerned with this slowdown.”  http://www.ksl.com/?nid=960&sid=19974549

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Bukit Merah’s history of pollution from rare earths processing

April 28, 2012

Some of the surviving residents of Bukit Merah are still plagued with severe health problems. Until this very day, the Malaysian authorities refuse to acknowledge that the radioactive waste was responsible for the sudden escalation of health problems among the residents

Today, the government is the official custodian of this repository in Bukit Merah. This site in Bukit Merah is declared as a restricted and dangerous dump site for radioactive materials but a curtain of official silence has descended on it. Has the government not learnt from Bukit Merah?

The Lynas project is likely to be a replay of the ARE fiasco but on a much larger scale.

The benefits gained by Malaysia from the Lynas investment are very little relative to the risks involved. Whilst the profits of the project go to Lynas (untaxed) and the few Malaysian companies that are involved in the construction of and the provision of supplies to the Gebeng rare earth plant, the radioactive waste will remain in
Malaysian soil for hundreds of years.

Lynas issue: Not learning from bitter experience —The Malaysian Insider,  Richard Pendragon, April 12, 2012 “……..Bukit Merah The history of the rare earth industry in Malaysia is little known to most Malaysians. Most Malaysians in fact think that the Lynas project in Pahang is the first time Malaysia has been associated with this industry.
Few Malaysians actually know that there was a rare earth plant in Bukit Merah, Perak, which has been closed some 10 or more years ago, following a ruling by the High Court of Malaysia that the company involved was in negligence, and that the radioactive waste generated by the plant was dangerous and had to be removed and secured in a safe
place away from people for hundreds of years. (more…)

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Health risks of thorium

April 28, 2012

Lynas issue: Not learning from bitter experience —The Malaysian Insider,  Richard Pendragon, April 12, 2012 ”…..Unacceptable risks of thorium “No monetary returns of whatever Foreign Direct Investment and its spinoffs can outweigh possible radiation and/or other health risks, which can wreak harm on our citizens, perhaps for as long as the half-lives of some of the extremely toxic radionuclide waste products —which in some cases might be ‘forever’!”

Dr David KL Quek, President, Malaysian Medical Association (MMA), May 26, 2011 One of the most contentious issues with the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant is the thorium (Th) by-product. Exposure to Thorium can cause cancer posing serious risks to workers at the LAMP and surrounding communities. Studies have shown that inhaling thorium dust causes an increased risk of developing lung cancer, and cancer of the pancreas. Bone cancer risk is also increased because thorium may be stored in bone. Thorium has a half life of 14 billion years and is easily transported and spread through wind and water.

Lynas will be processing 10 times the amount of ore compared to the ARE. Despite Lynas’ public proclamation of “Zero Harm” commitment there is no foolproof containment measures for such toxic residue for workers onsite at the LAMP. It should be noted that the ores that Chinese miners were exposed to in Bayun Obo Rare-Earth and Iron Mine
contained 400 ppm of thorium. The rare earth oxide concentrates that will be arriving shortly at Kuantan port will have 1600 ppm of thorium. The US Public Health Service (1990) reports that the natural background level in soil is typically 6 ppm of thorium. http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/sideviews/article/lynas-issue-not-learning-from-bitter-experience-richard-pendragon

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USA taxpayers end up with huge cost of Moab uranium wates

April 6, 2012

Five Million Tons Of Uranium Tailing Disposed, The U.S. Department Of Energy Says They Are A Third Of The Way Done With Their Entire Project To Move All Of The Tailings To Crested Junction KJCT8.com Janelle Ericsson  MOAB, UT. — Five million tons of uranium tailings has been removed from an old waste site near the river in Moab. The U.S. Department of Energy says they are a third of the way done with their entire project to move all of the tailings to Crested Junction.
Once they reach their destination they will be put in an engineered cell that will prevent contamination to ground water for a thousand years…

. The UMTRA project was originally started in 2001 when the a corporation went bankrupt. Through legislative actions, the project was given to the Department of Energy to take responsibility of the clean up.

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Just where will Lynas put its radioactive wastes?

April 6, 2012

Where exactly is ‘abroad’? Identify and prove to us which country outside of Malaysia is willing to accept this massive [volume of] toxic waste.

AELB says will close Lynas plant if waste agreement broken http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/aelb-says-will-close-lynas-plant-if-waste-agreement-broken The Malaysian Insider, March 15, 2012  KUALA LUMPUR,   The Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) assured Malaysians today it will shutter Lynas Corporation’s rare earth plant in Kuantan if the Australian mining firm violates conditions on the disposal of radioactive material.

According to Star Online, the regulator reminded at its weekly media briefing today that that firm had already struck an agreement with local authorities here for it to return any radioactive waste to Australia if it fails to set up a permanent disposal facility here. (more…)

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Problems for Lynas, if Malaysia wants to send its radioactive wastes back to Australia

March 10, 2012

No decision yet on sending Lynas waste to Western Australia  The Star, Malaysia, KUALA LUMPUR, 7 March 12, : The Cabinet has not decided on a proposal asking Lynas Corp rare earth waste material to be sent back to Western Australia, said Green Technology, Energy and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin.

He said Western Australian Minister for Mines and Petroleum Norman Moore was entitled to his view that Australia would not accept responsibility for any waste produced by Lynas Malaysia Sdn Bhd. “Our Cabinet has not made a decision on the matter. Wait for it to be announced,” he said after the launch of the National Energy Security Conference 2012 yesterday.

Moore told the Australian parliament that the Western Australian government does not support the import and storage of other countries’ radioactive waste.

PKR MP Fuziah Salleh had proposed that the rare earth waste material for Lynas be returned to Australia. ….
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/2/29/nation/10825847&sec=nation

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Just what IS Lynas going to do about its radioactive wastes?

March 10, 2012

No decision yet on sending Lynas waste to Western Australia  The Star, Malaysia, KUALA LUMPUR, 7 March 12, : The Cabinet has not decided on a proposal asking Lynas Corp rare earth waste material to be sent back to Western Australia, said Green Technology, Energy and Water Minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin.

He said Western Australian Minister for Mines and Petroleum Norman Moore was entitled to his view that Australia would not accept responsibility for any waste produced by Lynas Malaysia Sdn Bhd. “Our Cabinet has not made a decision on the matter. Wait for it to be announced,” he said after the launch of the National Energy Security Conference 2012 yesterday.

Moore told the Australian parliament that the Western Australian government does not support the import and storage of other countries’ radioactive waste.

PKR MP Fuziah Salleh had proposed that the rare earth waste material for Lynas be returned to Australia. ….http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/2/29/nation/10825847&sec=nation

  Lynas to send residue abroad if no suitable disposal site found in Malaysia The Star, Malaysia, By ONG HAN SEAN KUANTAN,  March 6, 2012:Lynas Corp has already submitted a letter of undertaking to send its rare earth processing residue abroad if it cannot find a suitable waste disposal site in Malaysia. International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said the move was taken as an assurance to the people’s psychological and emotional safety.

“Even though the Government is satisfied there will be no radioactive residue produced during the plant’s operation, we have ordered Lynas to guarantee and plan the provision of a permanent waste disposal facility far from human population as recommended by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“Failing which, Lynas has already expressed willingness to take the residue out of Malaysia,” said Mustapa in a joint statement with Pahang Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob here Tuesday.

He said the Government had also announced the setting up of an independent monitoring panel to audit the plant’s construction as an additional measure. On the residue’s radiation monitoring, Mustapa said the plant had yet to start operation and the Government had not appoint independent experts to analyse the radiation level of the residues produced by the
plant…..  http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/3/6/nation/20120306154934&sec=nation

 Shut down or there’ll be another anti-Lynas rally, Govt told http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/2/28/nation/10818800&sec=nation The Star, Malaysia, 6 March 12, KUANTAN: Another anti-Lynas rally will be held if the Government does not shut down the rare earth refinery project in Gebeng, said the Himpunan Hijau committee which organised the first protest on Sunday.

Its chairman Wong Tack said he was disappointed with Prime Minis­ter Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s statement that the Go­­vernment had to look for a solution that would be acceptable to the people without affecting investments. “We cannot accept his statement. Therefore, the Him­punan Hijau 3.0 rally is on – unless the project is cancelled,” Wong said at a press conference yesterday. The organisers had called on the Government to respond within 24 hours after the Himpunan Hijau 2.0 rally ended two days ago. Najib had said Lynas was looking for an uninhabited location to store the waste material from the plant, although it was scientifically safe. Wong said the committee would discuss with Bersih chairman Da­­­tuk Ambiga Sreenevasan on the possibility of holding a joint rally soon.

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Call for an independent monitoring of Lynas’ rare earths wastes

March 10, 2012

’Let independent panel monitor Lynas’, New Straits Times,  05 March 2012, KUALA LUMPUR: The government has been urged to hire independent monitoring bodies to publish the radiation readings of residue to be disposed by Lynas Corporation. Environmental Protection Society Malaysia adviser Gurmit Singh said this was important as proof that the radiation level was safe as the government had claimed…

…. “As long as the research and findings by the government are not published, there is always going to be concern,” he told the New Straits Times when contacted yesterday. Citing the now-closed Asian Rare Earth (ARE) project in Bukit Merah, Perak, as an example, he urged the government to reconsider its decision to continue with the project.

“Shifting the disposal site is not going to address bigger problems that will occur later in the future, the site might be shifted far from where people live but there is still the eco-system and animals could also be affected. ”Radiation is not something that can be immediately seen or felt, hence the phobia by the public.”

On Friday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the government had decided to ask Lynas Corporation to dispose of residue from its rare earth processing plant to a dedicated site far from residential areas.

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