THOUGH Bukit Merah folk are uncertain about safety from radioactive contamination where they live, the Perak government has given an assurance that a repository for waste from the former Asian Rare Earth Sdn Bhd (ARE) plant poses no risk.

The long-term storage facility (LTSF) in Kledang was built when ARE, a company owned by Mitsubishi Chemicals, was still in operation. The plant was forced to shut down in 1992 due to local and international pressure over its radioactive waste.

Menteri Besar Inc (MB Inc), in a statement to The Malaysian Insight, said the decommissioning of the ARE factory site began in 2003 and was completed in October 2005.

“The objective was to clean up and restore the ARE plant site to be used as industrial land.

“The project included building and structure demolition, excavation of contaminated soil, construction of engineered cell (EC-1) (part of the repository), and restoration of the site,” it said, referring to a second bunker or storage area within LTSF.

TMI has been reporting on the concerns of residents of Kg Bukit Merah, located some 100m from the former factory, since it closed.

The area was last checked for radioactive contamination by Malaysian authorities 13 years ago. In 2017, Japanese experts found that the levels were still high. Since the latest study, no action has been taken by local authorities.

ARE began operations in July 1982, to extract yttrium, a rare earth, from monazite.

Two years after the plant was set up, villagers discovered physical defects in their newborns, and at least eight leukaemia cases were confirmed.

MB Inc, which is the state government’s arm for mineral, property and industry developments, admitted that the factory site in the Bukit Merah Industrial Area, near the village, was last checked in 2006.

However, it said the Kledang repository, where the radioactive waste is buried, is secure. TMI was not allowed to enter the vicinity on a recent visit.

MB Inc said based on LTSF’s final inventory, there are about 50,000 drums containing thorium hydroxide residue, and 37,000 of contaminated materials.

Thorium hydroxide is a by-product from the process of caustic soda cracking in the extraction of rare earth minerals. The residue taken from the factory site is now the state government’s property.

The repository was completed in September 1988, and began receiving waste for storage the following year.

“The decommissioning and disposal of LTSF started in 2010. The main components of the project consisted of the retrieval of drums and LTSF contents, empty drums and solidify contents, and construction of engineered cell-2,” said MB Inc of the operation to move waste and other contaminated materials from the ARE plant site to the repository.

“Engineered cell-2” refers to the construction of another part within the repository to accommodate contaminated materials before the storage site was closed and buried.

“The physical work was completed on November 19, 2014, and the closure was declared on February 21, 2015,” said MB Inc.

On the buffer zone around the repository, it said the previous Barisan Nasional state government, in April 2014, decided to allocate only a 500m radius.

This was despite the Atomic Energy Licensing Board’s (AELB) request for a 1.7km buffer zone, which would have stretched from the facility to the Ipoh-Lumut Highway.

There is also a 200m “exclusion zone” from the facility, which MB Inc said is sufficient because even the area of buried waste is considered “clean based on regulatory requirements”.

“The 200m exclusion zone is imposed as an additional measure, to further reinforce safety and security.”

It added that it is the licence holder to LTSF, and as such, is responsible for the management, supervision and maintenance of the site, while the state government is the absolute owner of the facility.

“Limited non-radiological monitoring is also being conducted for the surface and groundwater, and reported to the Perak Environment Department. In addition, AELB routinely conducts sampling and monitoring for the purpose of verification.”

The closest housing development is approximately 2km from the repository, said MB Inc. – September 17, 2019.