AGC TO ENSURE LYNAS IS LEGALLY LIABLE

By : YOW HONG CHIEH (TMI)

LYNAS Corp’s letters of undertaking have been forwarded to the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) for review to ensure the Australian miner can be held accountable in the event of a mishap.

Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) Director-General, Raja Abdul Aziz Raja Adnan said the two letters were sent to the AGC even after the regulator’s own lawyers had pored over them because the issue was a sensitive one.

“We need the Attorney-General to give us the nod so that we can tie them down should we require it,” he told reporters at the nuclear regulator’s headquarters here.

Lynas was required to submit the letters as part of the conditions for a temporary operating licence (TOL), which has been approved but not issued by AELB.

In the letters, Lynas pledged to pay the first of five US$10 million (RM30.1 million) instalments and to assume full responsibility for any waste generated at its Gebeng, Kuantan rare earth plant, including sending the residue back to the source if necessary.

Raja Abdul Aziz also said Lynas’s survey of cancer rates among those living near the plant has been sent to the Health Ministry for scrutiny.

He stressed, however, that the cancer prevalence study, which was conducted over one year, had not been undertaken so Lynas or AELB could 'experiment with people,' as critics have alleged.

“It is to safeguard their health in future. So if there is an increase in prevalence of cancer, then Lynas can be held liable,” he said, adding this was the first time in the world any company had been asked to do this.

Raja Abdul Aziz later told The Malaysian Insider that the study had found cancer rates within a 20km radius of the plant to be consistent with the findings of other surveys conducted in Malaysia as well as Singapore.

The study broke down subjects by race, age, cancer type, congenital diseases, among others, he disclosed.

He added that Lynas will soon follow-up with a 50km radius study that will cover the residents of Kuantan and Kemaman as well.

The Australian miner’s rare earth plant has faced fierce public opposition, with anti-Lynas protestors recently gathering in the thousands at a rally in Kuantan to show their fierce disapproval.

Critics of the refinery want government to halt its construction and direct AELB to reverse its decision to approve a TOL for Lynas, which will let it embark on a two-year trial run once issued.

They allege that Lynas has failed to give sufficient assurance on how it will handle the low-level radioactive waste that will be produced at the plant.

Putrajaya has been under pressure from anti-Lynas groups to shut down the rare earth project over safety concerns. But the government has stood its ground on the project that was first earmarked for Terengganu.

Health Minister, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai told the Sin Chew Daily this week Lynas will have to send the waste produced at Gebeng back to Australia, even though the Western Australian government has said it will not accept any residue from ore mined from Mount Weld in the state.

But critics have charged that Malaysia risks breaching international laws if it ships Lynas Corp’s rare earth waste out of the country.

The Sydney-based company maintains that waste from its rare earth refinery will not be harmful and can be recycled for 'commercial applications'.