Photo: Bernama
KUALA LUMPUR: The people should understand that the issue surrounding Lynas Malaysia is not just about the company being told to pack up or continue operating, says Chang Lih Kang.
The Science, Technology and Innovation (Mosti) Minister said there are many processes and considerations involved.
ALSO READ: Allowing Lynas to extract thorium from radioactive waste not a practical solution, say activists
He was responding to criticisms against the government's decision to allow the Australian rare earth materials producer to continue its operation in Malaysia with its licensing terms revised and tightened.
"We realised that many people said the government keeps changing its decision.
"However, this decision was made based on the latest situation and is so far the best option for the country," he said when met after attending the Belt and Road Symposium Malaysia at a hotel here Wednesday (Oct 25).
Explaining further, Chang said if Malaysia had reverted to the previous decision of allowing Lynas Malaysia to import and process lanthanide concentrate until January 2024, Malaysia would be left with over a million tonnes of radioactive waste.
ALSO READ: Lynas allowed to import radioactive lanthanide concentrate until March 2026
"The waste would have to be either stored at the permanent disposal facility (PDF) or have the government spending more money to process them," he said.
Chang said the method and path taken now would yield two simultaneous outcomes - putting a stop to the accumulation of radioactive waste and solving the pile of existing radioactive waste, which comes to over a million tonnes in the country now.
He said the government has added another condition before allowing Lynas Malaysia to continue importing lanthanide concentrate and carry out cracking and leeching activities.
"The condition is that they must conduct thorium extraction.
"Thorium makes up 0.2% of the waste.
"It will no longer be radioactive after thorium extraction, which will render the waste as scheduled waste, which can be disposed of normally.
"So we feel that this is the better way forward and we hope the people can understand," he added.
On Tuesday, Chang said that Lynas Malaysia has been given a conditional approval to import lanthanide concentrate and carry out cracking and leeching activities until its licence expires in March 2026.
His announcement came as Lynas Rare Earths said on Oct 21 that it was temporarily shutting down operations in Malaysia, except for its mixed rare earth carbonate (MREC) processing plant.
Chang said the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) decided to amend two out of four of the company’s licence conditions and allow it to continue operation after the company proposed its thorium extraction technology to the board.
He said Lynas Malaysia will have to build a PDF to store Water Leach Purification residue.
Concentrated thorium will then be extracted from WLP residue according to requirements under the Atomic Energy Licensing Act 1984 (Act 304).
