PRESS STATEMENT
‘ISSUE IMMEDIATE STOP WORK ORDER IN LYNAS! ‘
1. Finally, with a new government and highly capable Minister of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (MESTECC) running this country after May 9th 2018, Lynas can no longer lie to the people. All wrongdoings are now fully exposed.
2. The Lynas plant is situated on reclaimed swamp land with groundwater as close as 1 meter below surface. This area, which receives an annual rainfall of 2,860mm is prone to flooding. The effect is particularly intense during the Northeast monsoon season. This site has been severely flooded twice already in the past and with climate change, the future risks can be worse.
3. There have been serious violations of laws, regulations as well as licensing terms and conditions over the last six years. The people now demands to know who facilitated all the following violations :
i. Our law / licence conditions says the storage area for radioactive waste must be roofed and not located in areas prone to natural disasters. 451,564 metric tonnes of radioactive waste (Water Leached Purification -WLP) were piled up in the open in Lynas’ flood-prone backyard.
ii. Our law says only a maximum of 20 metric tonnes of scheduled wastes can be stored on-site. There are now 1.113 MILLION metric tonnes piled up in the open in Lynas’ backyard.
iii. Our law says scheduled wastes can be stored on-site for SIX MONTHS maximum. 1.113 MILLION metric tonnes are piled up in the open in Lynas’ backyard for the past SIX YEARS.
iv. Our law says all scheduled wastes must be kept in fully covered containers and isolated from the biosphere. Lynas piled them up in the open in their backyard, completely exposed to severe weather.
4. Lynas radioactive wastes must be removed from Malaysia.
i. The approval of Lynas’ operating licence was based on Lynas’ commitment to ship all their wastes out of Malaysia. The Cabinet endorsed joint-ministerial directive clearly stated that Lynas must remove all their wastes, including all products made from it, out of Malaysia, failing which their operating licence will be immediately revoked.
ii. It does not make any economic sense.
a) Large piece of land will be LOST FOREVER . Lynas radioactive wastes contains Thorium which has a half life of 14 billion years. In other words, Lynas’ wastes will remain in the environment forever.
Tun Dr. Mahathir, in reference to Bukit Merah (Mitsubishi’s joint-venture Asian Rare Earth’s radioactive wastes) :
“Eventually, we agreed to bury this substance (radioactive wastes) in an area which was one square kilometre large. We had to bury it under thick cement to prevent the radiation from affecting people. Malaysia lost one square kilometre of land as the area was still not safe, which also led to losses in terms of areas meant for development. The radiation effects triggered fear among the community, we don't want a repeat of this.” – New Straits Times, 18 September 2018.
The amount of Lynas’ radioactive waste generated in six years is already about forty times more than the lifetime amount of Bukit Merah. The lifespan of the Lynas plant is 20 years. How many square kilometres more of precious land do we have to sacrifice to bury Lynas’ wastes?
Malaysia is a small country. Every inch of our land is productive and has high economic and ecological values. We must treasure every inch of it.
b) In Bukit Merah’s case, the long-term management and maintenance of their radioactive waste ‘tomb’ has been handed over to the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) and subsequently the state government. If we allow Lynas to build a PDF, our children for generations to come will have to pay for the management and maintenance of Lynas’ radioactive dump for 14 billion years. It’s unfair, immoral and irresponsible to subject our children to such unnecessary health risks and economic burden.
iii. There should be no double standards. In Australia, Lynas would be required to send the waste back to where it came from ie. Mount Weld for long-term storage immediately after they are produced. No accumulation of waste at the refinery is allowed. Malaysians lives are not cheaper than Australians. Lynas must send their waste back to Australia.
iv. The Earth Charter which is endorsed by UNESCO, states that pollution of any part of the environment must be prevented and no build-up of radioactive, toxic, or other hazardous substances can be allowed. The Earth Charter initiative was championed by our very own former Ambassador Tan Sri Razali Ismail, who has also served as President of the United Nations General Assembly.
5. The people of Malaysia will never allow our country to be the “tong sampah” for Lynas’ radioactive wastes which will destroy a large piece of our precious land forever.
6. In view of all these irregularities and violations, we call upon the Minister of MESTECC to issue an immediate stop-work order against Lynas.
WONG TACK
Member of Parliament for Bentong
15 December 2018
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APPENDIX :
Attachment 1 : Part of the more than 1.5 MILLION metric tonnes of wastes piled up in the open like mountains in Lynas’ backyard, 15-12-2018.
Attachment 2 : Lynas plant sitting on low-lying wetland, 15-12-2018.
Attachment 3 : Radioactive wastes “TOMB” 3km from Bukit Merah. 1km square of pristine forest in the Kledang Range lost and wasted forever.
Photos credit : Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL).
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