Understanding the Lynas Rare Earth plant in 13 questions
Q1: What is rare earth (RE)?
Rare earth (RE) is just a metal, as
ordinary as other metals like iron, silver and gold. The difference
between them is we don’t encounter RE in daily life, e.g. you don’t wear
RE bracelets, you don’t build the bridge with RE. It’s precious,
valuable and essential for many high-tech industries.
Q2: Who is LYNAS?
LYNAS is the owner of the RE mine and
Gebeng plant, incorporated and listed in Australia. LYNAS (M) Sdn. Bhd
is wholly owned by LYNAS Inc.
Q3: Where does the RE come from? What is it like?
Like other metals, RE is found in ore
(rock) in West Australia. The ore is mined, cleaned and crushed into
sand or powder form, before being shipped to Kuantan. The journey is
about 5000 km. The size of a single grain of powder can be 100 times
smaller than the diameter of a strand of hair.
Q4: Why do they take the RE from Australia and process it here?
The official statement said that
Australia cannot provide high-skilled manpower, and that Australia
cannot supply enough water, acids and natural gas to process RE.
Q5: What do we get in terms of income?
Malaysia was offered 12 years tax break
by LYNAS, which means they do not pay us anything during the first 12
years of operation. Eventually, all revenue generated here will probably
be channeled back to the LYNAS Inc. share holders in Australia, and not
to LYNAS (M) Sdn. Bhd.
Q6: What do we get in terms of job opportunities?
Only a total of 350 employees are needed,
including expatriate, skilled and unskilled workers. The number of
employees in a mid-size supermarket is greater than this.
Q7: What do we get in terms of new world-class technology?
Malaysia is not a traditional, major
RE-producing county. Transferring RE processing knowledge to Malaysia
does not benefit the country and its people considerably.
Q8: So, what actually do we get?
Save the “jobs created, new technology
and sales revenue of chemicals, water and natural gas”, strictly
speaking, in the first 12 years – nothing! Except large quantities of
waste. To be more precise, 500 cubic meters/hour of waste water, 100,000
cubic meters/hour of waste gas and 280,000 tonnes/year of solid waste.
Q9: Is RE dangerous?
Most RE metals are harmless, but in
natural ore RE is normally mixed with the radioactive substances. During
the separation process, valuable RE is extracted and exported to US,
Europe and Japan, leaving behind harmful substances in Kuantan.
Q10: How dangerous is it?
The radioactive substances release
radiation and two major toxic materials – radon gas and lead. Radon is a
colorless, odorless toxic gas. When it gets into the human body through
inhalation, it can damage cells and cause cancer. As for lead, many
years ago petrol gas been changed from leaded to unleaded, as we didn’t
want lead to be released to the air through our car exhaust. Lead can
harm the nervous system, and cause brain and blood diseases. In short,
two key hazards can be found in Gebeng RE plant – the radiation and the
toxic materials.
Q11: Where and when can the radiation, radon and lead be found?
The RE raw material (in powder or sand
form) arrives at the Kuantan port, then gets transported to Gebeng by
truck, where it is unloaded, transferred and processed. Waste gas from
chimneys, the waste water disposed into the Balok River, the solid
wastes that are stored in Gebeng – possibly in all of the above we can
find the radioactive substances, which can emit radiation, radon and
lead, wherever and whenever they are present.
Q12: Mr. A lives in Balok, 3km
from Gebeng. Mr. B lives in Kuantan, 30km from Gebeng. Mr. C lives in
KL, 300km from Gebeng. Can the radioactive materials endanger them?
In short, the answer is NO for all of
them if they stay more than 100 metres away from radioactive materials.
But, the answer is YES for all three if they consumed these harmful
substances, even if they stay hundreds of kilometres away. WHY? The
radiation emitted in Gebeng doesn’t travel long distance to harm us,
hence if you stand a short distance away from the materials without
consuming it, all you will get is a slight radiation. Radon gas and lead
in general do not affect our body externally, as we are protected by
our skin. However, if these radioactive materials contaminate the solid
waste, waste water and waste gas, they will be released to the
atmosphere, water streams and eventually the food chain. Once the
radioactive materials enter the human body via inhalation, ingestion and
wound penetration, the radiation, radon and lead will be released
inside the body and these can cause very serious consequences.
Q13: Why did they say that it is safe? Why did they say that the radioactivity is low? Who should I listen to?
You decide who you should listen to! It’s
your life, it’s your family, it’s your home. See above to understand
why they said the radioactivity is low. The media, authorities and LYNAS
have failed to report the consequences of consuming radioactive
materials.
The questions were answered by Dr. Lee Chee Hong, Chemical Engineering Expert on Metals.
http://www.loyarburok.com/2011/09/06/understanding-lynas-rare-earth-plant-13-questions/
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