KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 24 — Malaysia’s Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) has updated the licensing agreement of rare earths producer Lynas that allows its local chapter to import raw naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) until March 2026 when its contract expires.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Chang Lih Kang who made the announcement here today, said this means Lynas Sdn Bhd will be allowed to continue its cracking and leaching operations as long as it complies with the set conditions.
“Lynas has to ensure that the radioactive residue from any Water Leach Purification is below 1Bq/g (one becquerel). They can do so with research and development programmes led by local experts.
“The AELB's decision was made after it conducted early lab tests and found that the radioactive compound Thorium can be extracted from the WLP.
“By doing so we can remove the residue from being under the purview of Act 304,” he said in a news conference at the Malaysian Space Agency in Taman Tun Dr Ismail here this afternoon.
Chang said his ministry is confident that the latest developments will protect public interest by keeping all operations above board.
He added that this way, Malaysia will be able to attract billions of ringgit worth of investment in the rare earth mineral mining industry to support the manufacturing of advanced materials for high technology use.
Lynas is allowed to operate in Gebeng, Pahang under the Malaysian Radiation Protection (Licensing) Regulations 1986 of the Atomic Energy Licensing Act 1984, also known as Act 304.
This Act is the main law governing radiation protection in Malaysia.
In February, Lynas got a renewal of its conditional three-year licence renewal from the AELB.
Among the requirements was for the company to remove the “cracking and leaching” of lanthanide concentrate to outside Malaysia and to restrict its advanced materials plant to only refining intermediate materials.
The federal government said it will revoke Lynas’ operating licence if it fails to comply with the conditions imposed.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has also issued a warning that Malaysia might ban exports of rare earth raw materials.
Lynas then appealed for the conditions to be dropped, which was heard on April 28.
In May, Chang said that effective from January 1 next year, Lynas must ensure their cracking and leaching plant outside Malaysia is in operation and maintain a financial deposit for compliance hence the appeal was rejected.
In June, the company was given a six-month extension.
In its July quarterly report, the Australian parent company told its investors that it would have to cease its Malaysian operations unless Putrajaya reviewed the conditions set for its provisional licence renewal.
The issue with the Lynas plant in Gebeng was mainly because there was no safe solution for its massive amount of radioactive and toxic wastes.
At today’s press conference, Chang was asked about the levels of waste that Lynas had accumulated so far.
He replied that Lynas’ current permanent disposal facility can contain 1.6 million metric tonnes of waste and is holding 1.2 million metric tonnes of waste.
“So Lynas still have about 400,000 metric tonnes of storage left. They'd have to extract the thorium from there to reduce it and make more space. We have asked them to speed up their waste removal and the conditions for that haven't changed,” he said.
Chang said the Thorium waste can be processed and turned into fuel and sold to countries who can utilise nuclear power.
