KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian authorities sought Friday to quell protests over its move to approve an Australian mining company's rare earths plant by pledging to appoint an independent monitor to review the project safety and to closely scrutinize its production.
The Atomic Energy Licensing Board on Wednesday granted Lynas Corp. a two-year license to operate the first rare earths plant outside China in years. Malaysia hopes the $230 million plant will spur growth, but it has been the subject of heated protests over health and environmental risks posed by potential leaks of radioactive waste.
The board's director-general, Raja Abdul Aziz Raja Adnan, said an independent panel would be appointed this month to scrutinize plant safety when production begins.
He said the board has the know-how to regulate the project as there are more than 10 other similar mineral processing facilities in the country, mostly in tin mining. Some produce even higher concentrations of radioactive waste than Lynas says it will emit.
"We have the experience to handle this. We are prepared," he told reporters. "It is going to be very controlled production with very close scrutiny and monitoring by the authorities. It is not an open license for them."
The board has told Lynas to submit plans for a permanent disposal facility within 10 months and make a $50 million financial guarantee — or the license might be suspended or revoked.
Opponents, however, are angry that the project was approved without a clear long-term waste management plan. The Stop Lynas Coalition, representing villagers and civil groups, is planning to seek a court order to halt the plant in central Pahang state.
Raja Aziz said it was premature for Lynas to identify a permanent disposal site. He said Lynas has outlined its waste management plan in principle in its application and would need to give full details in 10 months. Lynas must also pay the first installment of $10 million in financial guarantee before the plant is allowed to fire up, he added.
Lynas says its plant is 91 percent completed and plans to start operations in the June quarter. It says the plant has state-of-the-art pollution controls and waste products with low levels of radioactive material could be converted into safe byproducts.
The refinery is expected to meet nearly a third of world demand for rare earths, excluding China. It also may curtail China's stranglehold on the global supply of 17 rare earths essential for making high-tech goods, including flat-screen TVs, mobile phones, hybrid cars and weapons.
Malaysia's last rare earth refinery by Japan's Mitsubishi group, in northern Perak state, was closed in 1992 following protests and claims that it caused birth defects and leukemia among residents. It is one of Asia's largest radioactive waste cleanup sites.
Raja Aziz said an International Atomic Energy Agency team, which helped the government assessed the Lynas project last year, would be invited to review the plant again at a later stage to ensure safety compliance.
The IAEA team last year called for more safety measures including a comprehensive long-term waste management program and a plan to dismantle the plant once it is no longer operating.
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