PUTRAJAYA has made the right decision to stand its ground and continue imposing on Lynas the condition that the cracking and leaching (C&L) part of its facility is removed by July 2023, Yeo Bee Yin said.  

The former energy, science, technology, environment and climate change minister said despite intense lobbying from many fronts, the government had made the right move.  

“About four years ago, we imposed a precondition for Lynas license renewal to remove its radioactive waste from Malaysia according to its two letters of undertaking to the government of Malaysia in 2012.  

“Lynas fought very hard and they managed to lobby enough people that they didn’t need to keep their word, in the name of economic development, jobs and FDI,” she said in a statement.  

Yeo, however, said that they had refused to settle the never-ending accumulation of radioactive waste in Malaysia. 

“Hence, we replaced the condition on removing all radioactive waste from Malaysia with removing the radioactive-producing process (cracking and leaching) from Malaysia within four years.  

“Under this new condition, Lynas had four years to build a C&L facility elsewhere.” 

Yesterday, the government granted Lynas a three-year extension to operate at Gebeng in Pahang until March 2, 2026.  

Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Chang Lih Kang said that the extension was granted under strict conditions to ensure safe operations. 

The government, however, has rejected Lynas’ application to drop four preconditions under the licence terms in relation to the management of radioactive waste in Malaysia after July this year. 

Yeo said upon the completion of the new C&L facility outside Malaysia, Lynas would no longer be allowed to produce radioactive waste in the country and only the intermediates were allowed to be shipped here for further processing.  

“They subsequently announced that they were able to satisfy the conditions imposed by the Malaysian government and that they would build their C&L facilities in Kalgoorie, Australia. 

“Three years later, from its series of recent statements, Lynas is again fighting very hard to escape from the condition imposed on them that they had announced ‘to be able to satisfy’ in 2020.” 

Yeo said the C&L facilities in Kalgoorie were nearly complete, but their intention now was to run both facilities in Malaysia and Australia to maximise profit.   

She added that Lynas profit for financial year 2022 was A$540 million (RM1.635 billion) while the C&L facilities construction cost in Kalgorie is estimated at A$575 million. 

“In other words, Lynas can fund the entire facility with just one year of profit. And yes, they are still enjoying 12 years tax exemption.  

“Can a company in any country decide for themselves what they need to comply with and what they don’t according to their own liking and interest?” 

Yeo said in the name of economy and geopolitics, the company could not be let off the hook from fulfilling their written commitment not once but twice.  

“I am looking forward to the day we see the fruit from the condition we started imposing in 2020 – no more radioactive waste production for Lynas in Malaysia by July 2023.” – February 17, 2023.