Greenpeace has issued a report which states that Lynas’ rare earth plant had not fulfilled the conditions set by the authorities and urged the government not to grant the full operating state licence (FOSL) to the Australian mining company.

The 89-page report , titled ‘A Radioactive Ruse’, highlighted a number of concerns related to the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (Lamp), including the alleged environmental threats posted by the plant and the company’s hazy and dubious plans on how it intends to contain and deal with the radioactive waste over the production period of 20 years.

Outlining the key points of the report, Greenpeace South-East Asia executive director Von Hernandez pointed out that Lynas had failed to fulfill the conditions imposed by the Malaysian government on the issuance of the temporary operating licence (TOL).

He said, among others, these included Lynas’ radioactive waste permanent disposal facility (PDF) which still remains a “mystery”, and thus did not fulfill one of the conditions.

“As far as we know, the company has yet to come up with a convincingly safe and acceptable solution to this radioactive waste problem and this is of course a matter of great public concern.

“So we believe that Lynas oversold its proposal to the Malaysian authorities and its shareholders, and earlier commitments to provide adequate safeguards had proven hollow.

“They had failed to meet the conditions outlined by the government and there is a basis for the government to now withhold the plant’s (temporary operating) licence and not issue this full operating state licence to the facility,” said Hernandez during the launching of the report today.

The press conference was chaired by Greenpeace Malaysia director Yong Kai Ping. Himpunan Hijau chief Wong Tack, Save Malaysia Stop Lynas committee chairperson Wong Tack, Stop Lynas Coalition chairperson Ali Akbar and Mahmud Yaakub, a retired fisherman who stay at Balok Village, Balok Pahang, also attended.

The Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) had issued the two-year TOL to Lynas on Sept 3, 2012 with five conditions, including the disclosure of the permanent disposal facility (PDF) of the radioactive waste.

The Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry later imposed two extra conditions over the licence, which required Lynas to come up with an immobilisation method to immobilise the radioactive elements in its waste, as well as an emergency response plan on dust control.

However, former AELB director-general Raja Abdul Aziz Raja Adnan had confirmed that the Lynas’ PDF proposal submitted to the board did not suggest the location of the intended waste facility.

Nevertheless, Lynas had always stressed that the plant had always fulfilled the government’s requirement and causes minimum harm to environment and human health.

Two weeks ago, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Ewon Ebin said that he had yet to receive Lynas’ application for FOSL. AELB is a government agency under the purview of the ministry.

As such, Tan highlighted the content of Lynas’ quarterly report for the period ending June 30 this year in which the company claimed that it has fulfilled all the condition in order to apply for the FOSL.

“If you look back at the condition, the PDF was not identified, the location of PDF wasn’t there, so how Lynas can claim that it has complied with all the conditions?” he asked.

TOL lapses on Sept 2

Wong said that with this report, Lamp should shut down its operation by next Tuesday, when the period of the TOL lapses.

“In less than five days, on Sept 2, the TOL for Lynas will expire. That means Lynas should be closed down at midnight of Sept 2.

“With the support of this report, I hope the authorities concerned in the government and Lynas come to the realisation (to realise that) this is the end of the road for them,” he stressed.

Responding to a question on what they would do if the government grants the FOSL to Lynas, both Hernandez and Wong said that they will bring this development to the international stage.

“The international community is standing with us. If the government still refuses to listen to the people, I think this government is hopeless. Then let us take this fight to the international arena,” said Wong.

Meanwhile, Tan said that he will appeal to the minister for a hearing over the issuance of FOSL.

“If the minister refuses to revoke the licence, then the residents can take up a legal challenge by asking for a judicial review on the minister’s decision,” he added.