THERE is a reason for the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant to continue operations. That reason is not fear of repercussion from foreign investors if the facility is shut down, but that if we own rare earth elements, our country will have an economic, geopolitical and strategic advantage.

The importance of rare earths has come to the fore with the US-China trade war. At end-May, the height of the trade battle, China threatened to place an embargo on the export of rare minerals to the US. This threat, described by some analysts as “China’s nuclear option”, sent buyers of rare earths scurrying to find alternative sources of supply and circumvent China’s near-monopoly of the elements – it produces more than 90% of the world’s supply.

Other countries that also produce rare earths are Australia, the US, Myanmar, Russia, India, Brazil, Thailand, Burundi, Vietnam and Malaysia. Our Lynas plant is the second-largest producer of rare earths outside China. The prices of these elements are volatile, and can skyrocket when artificially controlled. This happened in 2010, when prices surged after China threatened to cut off sale to Japan following a maritime incident over a territorial dispute. Consequently, major global miners started to expand their rare earths production due to the higher price incentive and to break China’s domination.

The term “rare earths” is rather misleading in this day and age. The difficulty of extraction when the elements were first discovered gave rise to the term. These elements are rather abundant and well dispersed worldwide. Western and developed countries adopt the “not in my backyard” policy for the mining of rare earths, preferring instead to outsource – usually from countries where labour is cheap and environmental regulations are lacking. Typically, deserts and semi-arid areas are necessary to contain the toxic effluents from mining and separation activities. Economic viability and the hazards posed are the main considerations for mining operations. Even the US’ only such mine, namely the Mt Pass mine in California, ships 55,000 tonnes of ores to China each year for rare earths processing and extraction.

In contrast, our leaders then had been so simple-minded to have invited Lynas Corporation Ltd, or Lynas Australia, to operate here. It is an irony that our officials had not been aware that the process of extracting rare earth elements would produce radioactive effluents. A 12-year pioneer-status tax exemption was awarded to Lynas Malaysia Sdn Bhd, a fully owned subsidiary of Lynas Australia, in exchange for 600 high-paying jobs.

The processing and refining of rare earths require a lot of water and nitric acid to leach out the minerals from the ores, leaving behind acidic waste and unusable, radioactive thorium and uranium. Besides the radioactive water leach purification residue, there are also the by-products of other heavy metals, such as chromium, cadmium, nickel and lead, which are all known carcinogens.

Since it began work in 2012, the Lynas plant in Gebeng, Pahang, has accumulated 580,000 tonnes of radioactive waste. To allay fears, it is often mentioned that experts, including those from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and our Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB), have declared the facility and its operations safe, and that Lynas has complied with all of the conditions set by the two bodies.

However, what our officials, including cabinet members, fail to understand is that IAEA’s role is to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and not to curb its use for any health reasons. The agency serves as a regulator and monitor of operations, and is far from being a health expert. It helps minimise risks for countries that use nuclear energy because they need to and have few options. For Malaysia, our options are open.

On August 15, AELB granted Lynas Malaysia a six-month operating licence extension, subject to four conditions. One of the conditions is for the company to move the “cracking and leaching” phase of its operations outside Malaysia, and the overseas facility must be built and start work within four years. This simply gives Lynas another fours years to produce radioactive, toxic waste in our country. It is as good as telling the firm to speed up operations towards a wind-up in four years. Meanwhile, the radioactive waste is piling up, just waiting for calamitous events.

Another condition is for Lynas to identify a site for a permanent disposal facility, with a written approval from the relevant state government, or to get official permission from another country to transfer its waste there. As such, there is a strong likelihood that these six months will see a surge in ores shipped from the Australian Mt Weld mine to the plant in Gebeng.

What’s in it for Malaysia with Lynas getting the green light? It is a totally different matter if the country owns rare earth elements, and wields economic, geopolitical and strategic influence on the world stage – and a desert where we can store toxic waste without fear of seepage and run-off. We have neither.

The risks posed by radioactive waste should not be a legacy inherited by future generations, just for the sake of saving a few hundred jobs and downstream business activities now. – September 5, 2019.

* Captain Dr Wong Ang Peng is a researcher with an interest in economics, politics, and health issues. He has a burning desire to do anything within his means to promote national harmony. Captain Wong is also a member of the National Patriots Association.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.