“In the seventies the Japanese apparently decided the risk of radioactive pollution from the processing of monazite was too great in spite of the country’s advanced technology. So they stopped its import of 300 to 400 tonnes of monazite yearly and closed down their rare earth plants.
After the shutdown of monazite processing in Japan, Mitsubishi Chemical (which has its plant closed down for failure to comply with strict environmental standards) set up a joint venture company Asian Rare Earth (ARE) in Malaysia. It’s purpose was to extract rare earth from monazite, precisely the activity that was halted in Japan. The rare earth was to be shipped to Japan as an input into Japanese industry; the radioactive and toxic remainder would remain in Malaysia.” – WASTED LIVES, Radioactive Poisoning in Bukit Merah.
