THE nod given for a housing project to be built next to a repository containing radioactive waste from a now-shuttered plant in Kledang, Perak, has caught activists by surprise.

Ipoh locals, who have formed the Kinta Valley Watch (KVW) group, questioned the project’s location, saying it is just 1.7km from the former Asian Rare Earth Sdn Bhd (ARE) plant’s repository.

Land clearing for the project has begun, and showrooms for its houses are already on the site.

KVW is demanding that the state government make known the housing project’s status, how it was approved, as well as the safety measures taken.

Ching Boon Tat, a member of the group, told The Malaysian Insight that KVW wants to know how a residential project so close to the radioactive waste storage facility could be given the green light.

“How could the authorities approve the project? We are concerned that the facility is located so close to the project site.”

The Perak government has given an assurance that the repository, also called a long-term storage facility (LTSF), poses no risk.

Menteri Besar Inc (MB Inc) previously told The Malaysian Insight that the facility was sealed after the ARE plant’s decommissioning was completed in 2005, with its radioactive waste safely stored inside the repository.

Based on the LTSF’s final inventory, there are some 50,000 drums containing thorium hydroxide residue and 37,000 of contaminated materials.

The Malaysian Insight was not allowed to enter the vicinity of the repository on a recent visit.

The ARE plant in Bukit Merah was forced to shut down in 1992 due to domestic and international pressure over its radioactive waste, after residents fell ill, including with leukaemia, and cases of physical defects in newborns were reported.

Ching questioned whether buyers are aware that their future homes will be situated near a facility storing radioactive waste.

“We hope the state government will look into this issue. People must be aware that it (the housing project) is near a radioactive waste facility.”

Another concern is the 500m radius of the buffer zone surrounding the repository, which MB Inc had said was decided in April 2014 by the then Barisan Nasional state administration.

This does not meet the Atomic Energy Licensing Board’s (AELB) recommendation for a 1.7km-radius buffer zone, which would have stretched from the facility to the Ipoh-Lumut Highway.

Despite the area’s history, 80% of the project’s single-storey units have been sold, a visit to the showrooms revealed.

Contacted again, MB Inc referred questions on the project’s approval to the local council, and Land and Mines Office. The Malaysian Insight has contacted the Land and Mines Office, and is awaiting a response.

MB Inc said it visited the project site on Friday, adding that it has conducted tests to ensure there is no pollution from the repository.

An MB Inc spokesman, who requested anonymity as he is not authorised to speak publicly about the matter, said AELB officers have visited the LTSF to determine that the stored waste is still safely contained. – September 25, 2019.