LYNAS Corp is pushing ahead with plans to build a permanent disposal facility (PDF) for low-level radioactive waste from its Kuantan plant, despite uncertainty over the Australian firm’s future in Malaysia.

The Australian Financial Review reported the rare earth company as saying it is prepared to comply with a Putrajaya committee’s recommendation on its Gebeng operations, to build a PDF for stockpiled waste.

Lynas said the Atomic Energy Licensing Board has approved its planning framework and site selection. The facility will be built in Pahang.

The firm’s Malaysian operating licence expires in September, and there has been little clarity given on its fate.

Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad last month announced that Lynas would need to conduct the early stages of processing rare earth ore back in Australia.

These early stages, which now take place at the Kuantan plant, produce radioactive material, a source of controversy for the company.

Lynas must also remove some 450,000 tonnes of radioactive waste from the plant as a condition for licence renewal.

Australian Environment Minister Melissa Price told the newspaper that Canberra has been working with Putrajaya on the waste issue for several months, and will continue to do so “to see this matter resolved fairly and transparently”.

She was dragged into the row over the issue when her Malaysian counterpart, Yeo Bee Yin, wrote to her, requesting a collaboration on the removal of Lynas’ stockpiled residue.

Price said Australian officials have “engaged extensively with the Malaysian government over several months, and advocated for a transparent, fair, evidence-based and objective resolution to this matter”.

Yesterday, The Australian quoted Western Australia Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Johnston as saying the state will not import radioactive waste from Lynas’ Kuantan refinery.

Shares of the firm, which mines its rare earth ore in Western Australia, have fallen more than 30% since last December, following the closure risk facing its Pahang plant.

That month, the plant was temporarily shut after failing to secure government approval to increase output.

Putrajaya is expected to release a formal statement clarifying the conditions for Lynas’ licence renewal, including the removal of 450,000 tonnes of radioactive waste accumulated since 2012. – May 7, 2019.