KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 — The Pakatan Harapan (PH) government’s decision to extend rare-earth refiner Lynas’s licence to store waste is deeply disappointing, the Save Malaysia, Stop Lynas (SMSL) group said today.

SMSL voiced concern over the alleged health hazards of the waste stored by Lynas in Pahang near the company’s refinery Lynas Advanced Material Plant (LAMP).

"We are alarmed by the sheer volumes of waste generated so far. Apparently, over 450,000 tonnes of the most toxic of Lynas’ wastes have been left near the LAMP. If this is the case, then there will be over 880 tonnes of thorium in the mix,” the group claimed in a statement today, without stating how it arrived at the figures.

"In any country with a responsible government, the refinery would have not been issued any licence to construct the plant, let alone generating so much waste contaminated with radioactive thorium, toxic heavy metals, chemicals and compounds which Lynas has not fully disclosed,” the group alleged.

"Many of us felt cheated for voting for the PH government thinking that it will make a real difference to make our future safer and cleaner,” it added.

SMSL expressed worry over the thorium element in Lynas’s waste, claiming that the waste produced by Lynas exceeds the limit of radioactivity that allows for exemption from radiation safety control and the government allegedly believing the company’s assertion that low-level radioactivity is safe.

"We cannot accept this and we will continue to fight for our safety and that of future generations’ since thorium has a 14 billion year half-life. We cannot tolerate a known carcinogen — cancer-causing substance — to be piled up high so close to populated area, fishing ground and agriculture area,” the group said.

SMSL also shared its concerns that thorium, which it alleged was being stored in the open, would be spread far by wind and rain, especially during the country’s annual north-eastern monsoon.

Yesterday, the Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change (Mestecc) clarified that its extension of Lynas Malaysia Sdn Bhd’s licence for temporary storage of scheduled waste is only until February 15, 2019.

Mestecc said the licence extension was to allow an executive committee time to reevaluate the Lynas plant’s operations and residue management.

Mestec said the committee will be holding a public hearing in Kuantan, Pahang on November 11 to hear explanations from all interested parties, including Lynas, non-governmental organisations, government agencies, and experts in environmental management, public health and radiation safety.

The licence for temporary storage of the company’s rare earth refining by-products was due to end October 31.

Lynas Malaysia had earlier this month said that it did not produce any toxic or radioactive waste.

It said that its rare earth refining activities produce two forms of gypsum as by-products, namely an iron-rich phosphogypsum (WLP) with very low levels of naturally-occurring radiation and a non-radioactive material known as magnesium-rich gypsum known as NUF.

Last Friday, local daily The Star reported Lynas Malaysia’s radiation safety general manager Prof Ismail Bahari as saying that there have been no cases of abnormal and accidental radiation exposure or an increase in radiological risk to the company’s workers or the public since the company started operations six years ago.