Environmental groups are calling on the government to explain its decision to allow Lynas to keep its cracking and leaching facility in Gebeng, Kuantan.

The decision, announced yesterday, hinged on a Lynas proposal to extract radioactive thorium from the residue of its Water Leach Purification (WLP) process to the point where the remaining residue is no longer radioactive enough to be regulated as radioactive waste.

Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL) chairperson Tan Bun Teet told Malaysiakini there are...