Radiation around the Asian Rare Earth (ARE) plant in Bukit Merah and its permanent waste dump site at Bukit Kledang, both in Perak, is still at a hazardous level - despite the factory having closed 18 years ago.
This disturbing finding was recorded by anti-Lynas group Save Malaysia Stop Lynas (SMSL) during a fact-finding visit to Perak over the weekend.
The reading near the plant was around 0.19 microsievert per hour while the reading near the dump site stood at about 0.2 microsievert per hour.
Both readings, if extrapolated to annual basis, are beyond the safe level of 1 milisievert per year as advised by the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB), Tan said.
The average background reading of Malaysia is 0.05 microsievert per hour.
AELB had earlier claimed that the plant site has been decontaminated, with radiation levels dropping from 0.65 microsievert per hour to 0.17 microsievert per hour, which is safe for human activities.
The board also claimed that it had requested the authorities to move illegal farms and squatters living within the buffer zone around the waste dump site.
The aftermath of the factory’s operations has been one of the largest radioactive waste clean-ups in Asia, with a permanent dumping site set up at the foot of nearby Bukit Kledang.
The anti-Lynas movement has been using the ARE plant as an example to protest against the Lynas rare earths plant in Gebeng, Kuantan.
Members of SMSL also met with a former contractor who was hired by ARE to dump the radioactive waste.
According to Tan, the contractor, whose three employees carrying out the job have died at a young age.
In other words, the polluted areas are larger than what the authorities had expected, and they are difficult to trace, Tan elaborated.
Tan is also disappointed with the Ipoh Hospital which, he said, did not trace the backgrounds of cancer patients over the years to determine whether they were from the affected areas.
This matter was conveyed to Tan by Dr Chan Chee Khoon, an epidemiologist from Universiti Malaya, who has been following the issue and has had discussions with the medical personnel of Ipoh Hospital.
“This shows that the government did not follow up on the health conditions of residents in that area,” added Tan.
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