Bar Council questions 'express licence' for Lynas

The hasty manner in which the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) approved a temporary operating licence for the Lynas rare earth refinery was improper, said Bar Council president Lim Chee Wee.

He said that the licence was issued on Jan 30, just four days after the closing date for a public feedback period.

“It beggars belief that AELB could have adequately and properly considered the 1,123 public comments within merely two working days.

“The only natural conclusion is that the whole public consultation process is a sham and charade,” said Lim (right) in a statement today.

The public consultation period took place between Jan 3 to Jan 26, to allow the public to scrutinise Lynas’ application for a licence.

There have been complaints that the AELB applied too many restrictions during the viewing process, which includes limiting the amount of time each individual can view the document.

Meanwhile, Lim pointed out that the legality of the AELB decision on Jan 30 was also in question because the detailed environmental impact assessment (EIA) on the Lynas plant had not yet been conducted.

‘Where is the EIA?’

Lim argued that the EIA was a prerequisite, noting that as of Feb 1, even the permanent disposal facility for the Lynas plant had yet to be identified.

“This omission alone should have constituted sufficient grounds for AELB to dismiss the application,” he said.

In view of this, Lim urged the federal government to suspend or cancel the temporary operating licence.

On the 10-month period for Lynas to submit its plans for a permanent waste storage facility, Lim said this was reckless because if the terms of the licence remain unfulfilled, a substantial amount of radioactive waste would have been produced.

“These wastes would burden Malaysia for the imaginable future, as thorium, one of the wastes produced, has an inconceivably long half-life of over 14 billion years.

“It will take that much time for half the atoms in any sample of thorium to decay,” warned Lim.

He added that should a catastrophe befall the affected area, a large amount of money would be required for remedial action, as shown in the case of the Asian Rare Earth Plant in Bukit Merah, Perak.