Malaysia Group Aims to Stop Rare Earth Plant

A Malaysian group representing villagers and civil groups will file a legal challenge to the government's decision to approve a $230 million rare earths plant by Australian miner Lynas Corp., a lawmaker said Thursday.

The Atomic Energy Licensing Board announced late Wednesday it would grant Lynas a license to operate the first rare earths plant outside China in years, despite public protests over fears of radioactive pollution.

It said Lynas must submit plans for a permanent disposal facility within 10 months and make a $50 million financial guarantee. Malaysia hopes the Lynas plant will spur growth. But the project has been the subject of heated protests over health and environmental risks posed by potential leaks of radioactive waste.

Opposition lawmaker Fuziah Salleh said the Stop Lynas Coalition would seek a court order to halt the plant in Kuantan, the capital of central Pahang state.

Fuziah said a preliminary environmental impact assessment approved by authorities in early 2008 was insufficient and that a detailed report was necessary.

She also questioned why the project was approved when a long-term waste management plan hadn't been fully spelled out.

"It is no good telling us it is safe. The Kuantan people will just be lab rats. If there is a leakage, who will be responsible?" she told The Associated Press.

Lynas says its refinery could meet nearly a third of world demand for rare earths, excluding China. It also may curtail China's stranglehold on the global supply of 17 rare earths essential for making high-tech goods, including flat-screen TVs, mobile phones, hybrid cars and weapons.

Raja Abdul Aziz Raja Adnan, director-general of the Atomic Energy Licensing Board, said Thursday the license was granted after considering all safety aspects, including approval from the environment department. He declined to comment on the need for a detailed environmental impact assessment that Fuziah says is imperative.

Environment department officials couldn't be immediately reached for comment.

Malaysia's last rare earth refinery by Japan's Mitsubishi group, in northern Perak state, was closed in 1992 following protests and claims that it caused birth defects and leukemia among residents. It is one of Asia's largest radioactive waste cleanup sites.

Lynas says its plant is equipped with state-of-the-art pollution controls and plans to start operations in the June quarter.

It will refine slightly radioactive ore from Western Australia but Lynas says the radioactive element, thorium, in its raw material is 50 times lower than those in Perak. Lynas also says waste products with low levels of thorium could be converted into safe byproducts.

Fuziah, however, said contamination risk was high because the site wasn't suitable for such an industry.

"The economic activities in Kuantan center very much on tourism and the fishing industry. Should there be a radioactive leakage, it is going to be disastrous to the environment," she said.

An International Atomic Energy Agency team, which assessed the Lynas project last year, found it lacked a comprehensive long-term waste management program and a plan to dismantle the plant once it is no longer operating.

The government, which sought the agency's input, has pledged to follow its recommendations.