Home 
News Legal/General News Lynas plant 'no hazard' to health and environment
News Legal/General News Lynas plant 'no hazard' to health and environment 
| Lynas plant 'no hazard' to health and environment |
|
|
|
| Thursday, 22 December 2011 08:45am | |
 ©The New Straits Times (Used by permission)by EILEEN NG Adviser says rare earth technology is the way of the future and Malaysia will benefit from it KUALA LUMPUR: Lynas Corporation has allayed fears that its rare earth processing plant in Gebeng, Pahang, is hazardous to public health and the environment, as it had implemented numerous safety measures. Its radiological safety adviser Professor Dr Ismail Bahari said the company had conducted numerous Radiological Impact Assessments (RIAs) to prove that radiation level at the Lynas Advance Materials Processing Plant (LAMP) would be very low when it eventually starts operations. Lynas had been granted a site licence to build the plant but has yet to obtain its pre-operating licence. Dr Ismail, who has 30 years experience in radiological safety and is with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, said the RIAs showed that in a worst-case scenario, the radiation level would be at 0.002 mSv/year (millisievert), way less than the permissible level of 1mSv/year. He said fatal cancer risk assessment showed that the radiation level could only cause less than one case per one million people, much lower than the 720 cases per one million at the national level. He said Lynas implemented an Aerosol Monitoring System to measure any airborne discharge. It is putting in place a Leachate Monitoring System to monitor and prevent any radioactive seepage or leakages. In dimissing claims that LAMP is similar to a nuclear power plant, he said in the event of a fire, it would not cause the plant to explode. "It will be like a normal fire." He also said Malaysia is very strict on matters related to radiation as evidenced by the stand taken by the government to adopt standard proposals by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and include them in the regulatory requirements. He said those who opposed LAMP were trying to mislead the public into thinking that the plant did not adhere to the necessary requirements, and that to counter this, it would continue to carry out public awareness programmes. He also addressed the fears that LAMP would see a repeat of the Asian Rare Earth plant in Bukit Merah that was closed down in 1992 after public protests and claims that it had caused at least six cases of leukaemia and several deaths among local residents. "Just because there is a failure there does not mean all projects will fail. Bear in mind, that was 20 years ago and we have advanced so much now." He expressed confidence that LAMP would be a catalyst to propel the development of green technology in Malaysia. "Rare earth technology is the technology of the future and Malaysia is poised to benefit from it. "That's where the money is and this is the technology where we could be at the forefront." Set as favourite Share Email This Comments (0)
 Write comment
You must be logged in to a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.
|
Subscribe to this comment's feed
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
Circular No 109/2012: Be a Part of the Bar Council Constitutional Law Committee
