KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 1 — Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL) maintained today that Lynas Corp must identify a permanent disposal facility (PDF) for waste produced at its Kuantan refinery, despite the rare earth refiner announcing recycling measures.

The group noted that Lynas regularly announced it has identified ways to recycle the radioactive waste produced at the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP), but disputed the latest bid to recycle these into a soil enhancer called "Condisoil” for agriculture use.

Referring to a July 19 report by Sin Chew Daily, SMSL said Lynas had declared then that the successful development of "Condisoil” addressed the requirement for it to identify a site on which to build the PDF.

"Condisoil” is reportedly a mixture of three solid residues — one part of Water Leached Purification Residue (WLP), two parts of Neutralization Underflow (NUF) and seven parts of Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) — marketed for agricultural use.

However, SMSL insisted that WLP residue contains many chemicals that are of little or no use to plants, while also having radioactive elements of Thorium and Radium.

"The proposed mixture of 1:2:7 of WLP: NUF: FGD will leave behind large quantities of unused radioactive WLP wastes for lack of FGD to go with it to create the so called ‘ Condisoil’,” the group claimed.

Citing Lynas data in its radioactive waste management plan that each tonne of rare earth oxides would produce a total 13.41 tonnes of solid residue — WLP (2.85 tonnes), NUF (7.93 tonnes) and FGD (2.63 tonnes) — SMSL said more WLP would be produced than FGD despite the latter accounting for seven times that of the former.

SMSL said this meant that only 13.18 per cent of WLP produced will be used up in Condisoil.

"May we know what Lynas intends to do with the remaining 86.82 per cent of the radioactive WLP? Don’t they require a PDF to safely store it?” SMSL asked.

"Ending September 2017, there is an estimated 138,820 tonnes (dry weight) of WLP residues generated and kept at the back of the LAMP! If Lynas were to successfully utilize all their FGD (127,720 tonnes) there will a balance of 120,523 tonnes of WLP in the residue storage facility in LAMP!” SMSL claimed, questioning if Lynas would identify a suitable site for the PDF.

The group pointed out that the Temporary Operating License (TOL) granted by the Malaysian regulating authorities in September 2012 had required Lynas to submit a detailed plan on the location and management of the plant’s radioactive wastes in a PDF within 10 months of operations, noting that the regulating authorities had said that this was fulfilled conceptually but with no mention of the location.

SMSL further claimed that Lynas has yet to fully satisfy the required deposits of US$50 million with the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB).

"If the regulating authorities, the AELB, believed that Condisoil is a viable solution to the management of the radioactive WLP waste, then perhaps the payment of this safe deposit may not be necessary!” it said.

In its latest quarterly report ending September 2017, Lynas said that it remains committed to paying a total of US$50 million in security deposit instalments to the AELB in accordance with the conditions of the Full Operating Stage Licence (FOSL) for the LAMP.

In the same report, Lynas said the amount currently due to the AELB is US$15.58 million would be deposited in a bond or cash at the end of October 2017, while a further deposit of US$7.79 million would be made at the end of December.

Lynas reportedly said in July that it had tested Condisoil on paddy, corn, kenaf and palm oil and that test results had shown that it improved agricultural yield, while the company had also in August provided updates on the safety of the Condisoil product.

On its website, Lynas said the NUF is a non-toxic and non-radioactive magnesium-rich residue that can be used to condition poor agricultural soil and that the WLP residue is a low-level radioactive material that is also an iron phosphogypsum that compliments NUF for the same agricultural use.

"The formulation of soil conditions using WLP, NUF and inert filler materials has been proven through extensive research to be non-radioactive, non-toxic and non-carcinogenic,” Lynas said on its website, noting that commercial reuse is the preferred option as compared to the unproductive choice of permanent storage of wastes.

Lynas said on its website that the WLP residue is currently safely stored in a temporary residue storage facility within the LAMP in Pahang, and that it was designed and built to meet the requirement of a PDF within the plant, noting that constant monitoring showed no increase in background radiation levels at up to 20km from the plant.

In September 2016, Lynas said Malaysian authorities had renewed its LAMP’s full operating stage licence for another three years until September 2019.