These questions were answered by Dr. Lee Chee Hong, Chemical Engineering Expert on Metals.
Q1: What is rare earth (RE)? Rare earth (RE) is just a metal, as ordinary as other metals like iron, silver and gold. The difference between them is we dont encounter RE in daily life, e.g. you dont wear RE bracelets, you dont build the bridge with RE. Its precious, valuable and essential for many high-tech industries. Q2: Who is LYNAS? LYNAS is the owner of the RE mine and Gebeng plant, incorporated and listed in Australia. LYNAS (M) Sdn. Bhd is wholly owned by LYNAS Inc. Q3: Where does the RE come from? What is it like? Like other metals, RE is found in ore (rock) in West Australia. The ore is mined, cleaned and crushed into sand or powder form, before being shipped to Kuantan. The journey is about 5000 km. The size of a single grain of powder can be 100 times smaller than the diameter of a strand of hair. Q4: Why do they take the RE from Australia and process it here? The official statement said that Australia cannot provide high-skilled manpower, and that Australia cannot supply enough water, acids and natural gas to process RE. Q5: What do we get in terms of income? Malaysia was offered 12 years tax break by LYNAS, which means they do not pay us anything during the first 12 years of operation. Eventually, all revenue generated here will probably be channeled back to the LYNAS Inc. share holders in Australia, and not to LYNAS (M) Sdn. Bhd. Q6: What do we get in terms of job opportunities? Only a total of 350 employees are needed, including expatriate, skilled and unskilled workers. The number of employees in a mid-size supermarket is greater than this. Q7: What do we get in terms of new world-class technology? Malaysia is not a traditional, major RE-producing county. Transferring RE processing knowledge to Malaysia does not benefit the country and its people considerably. Q8: So, what actually do we get? Save the jobs created, new technology and sales revenue of chemicals, water and natural gas, strictly speaking, in the first 12 years nothing! Except large quantities of waste. To be more precise, 500 cubic meters/hour of waste water, 100,000 cubic meters/hour of waste gas and 280,000 tonnes/year of solid waste. Q9: Is RE dangerous? Most RE metals are harmless, but in natural ore RE is normally mixed with the radioactive substances. During the separation process, valuable RE is extracted and exported to US, Europe and Japan, leaving behind harmful substances in Kuantan. Q10: How dangerous is it? The radioactive substances release radiation and two major toxic materials radon gas and lead. Radon is a colorless, odorless toxic gas. When it gets into the human body through inhalation, it can damage cells and cause cancer. As for lead, many years ago petrol gas been changed from leaded to unleaded, as we didnt want lead to be released to the air through our car exhaust. Lead can harm the nervous system, and cause brain and blood diseases. In short, two key hazards can be found in Gebeng RE plant the radiation and the toxic materials. Q11: Where and when can the radiation, radon and lead be found? The RE raw material (in powder or sand form) arrives at the Kuantan port, then gets transported to Gebeng by truck, where it is unloaded, transferred and processed. Waste gas from chimneys, the waste water disposed into the Balok River, the solid wastes that are stored in Gebeng possibly in all of the above we can find the radioactive substances, which can emit radiation, radon and lead, wherever and whenever they are present. Q12: Mr. A lives in Balok, 3km from Gebeng. Mr. B lives in Kuantan, 30km from Gebeng. Mr. C lives in KL, 300km from Gebeng. Can the radioactive materials endanger them? In short, the answer is NO for all of them if they stay more than 100 metres away from radioactive materials. But, the answer is YES for all three if they consumed these harmful substances, even if they stay hundreds of kilometres away. WHY? The radiation emitted in Gebeng doesnt travel long distance to harm us, hence if you stand a short distance away from the materials without consuming it, all you will get is a slight radiation. Radon gas and lead in general do not affect our body externally, as we are protected by our skin. However, if these radioactive materials contaminate the solid waste, waste water and waste gas, they will be released to the atmosphere, water streams and eventually the food chain. Once the radioactive materials enter the human body via inhalation, ingestion and wound penetration, the radiation, radon and lead will be released inside the body and these can cause very serious consequences. Q13: Why did they say that it is safe? Why did they say that the radioactivity is low? Who should I listen to? You decide who you should listen to! Its your life, its your family, its your home. See above to understand why they said the radioactivity is low. The media, authorities and LYNAS have failed to report the consequences of consuming radioactive materials. ------------------------------------------------------------------ COMMENTS: Q1: Agree Q2: Agree Q3: The REE is refined and converted into PASTE form NOT powder form and enclosed in double sealed especially designed bags. Approved by the Enviro agencies of Western Aust. The radioactive content of the REE is so low that it is NOT even classified as radioactive for transporting by the Enviro agencies of Aus. Q4. My understanding is that Kuantan deemed a ultra-modern industrial region servicing the petrochemical and chemical manufacturing industries was part of the lure for Lynas to establish there and requested by the Gov of Malay. The source of labour, and port facilities are also reasons. Q5. You said Malaysia was offered 12 years tax break by LYNAS. Correction, Its actually the Gov of Malaysia who offered the Tax Free status to Lynas under the Pioneer Status program. Pioneer Status reasons : Pioneer status is also available to strategic projects defined as projects of national importance which involve heavy capital expenditure, long gestation periods, high levels of technology and have a significant impact on the economy Q6. Lynas is expected to gross anything from 6 billion ringgit to 12 billion ringgit per year. At a 20% estimated cost of production at the LAMP (excluding tax), Kuantan people and supporting industries in Kuantan working and supplying to Lynas will be looking at revenue and income from anywhere between 1.2 billion ringgit to 2.4 billion. This goes straight into the community and industries of Kuantan (excluding tax). Which is equivalent to $1700 per person in Kuantan. Q7. IF you have been following the rare earth industry over the last two/three years, China is restricting REE exports to force/encourage high tech developed industries outside China to move into China. This will allow China to move forward into the future, grow and develop to be the supper nation that she believes. Malaysia has this opportunity through the Lamp and Lynas and the vision of Gov. New world class tech has alreadybeen indicated through the agreement with World class Siemens and Lynas JV to develop supper magnets for wind turbines and electric cars. Q8: Read response to Q6 and Q7. Q9. The LAMP is a world class Advance Material Plant for the modern sustainable high tech industries. It is built with modern day tech! Q10. A quick google reveals that Radon gas from http://en.wikipedia.org Radon is a natural occurring noble gas. As the name suggest, radon has an extremely low level of reactivity . So not dangerous at all as you have suggested. Radon gas is common in houses especially concrete/cement houses with poor ventilation. Radon from the Lamp i.e. Radon222 actually has a half life of 1minute. Well water/ground water can be very rich in radon gas depending on the soil type that encompasses it. In many countries Radium rich springs and baths have been used for healing purposes. The process is called Radiation hormesis. Some people from Japan, Germany, Czech Republic Austria, Even the United States and other European nations practise the bathing in the belief that it will cure illness and medical conditions such as arthritis since the early 1900s. A study by Franke relating to Radon spa therapy in rheumatoid arthritis in Yr 2000 actually showed that Radon induce beneficial long-term effects in the human body. The Ree from the LAMP is only 1/50th (or equivalent to 2%) the radioactive content of Bukit Merah. In relative terms, the LAMP needs to be in OPERATIONS FOR FIFTY YEARS to produce the same radioactive content as 1 year production at Bukit Merah. Q11 and Q12: Go back to my response to Q3 The Ree is refined and converted into PASTE form NOT powder form and enclosed in double sealed especially designed bags. There will be no powder. So there is no real danger of radon gas/small particles emitted exposed through transport. Radon from the LAMP also has a half life of less than 1 minute. Q13. Finally regards radiation in general: Sydney Aus has a nuclear reactor at Lucus Heights which is approx 900metres from the nearest residential home and 30km from the CBD with a population of 4.5million. Sydney is also one of the premier tourist destinations in the world. Kuantan has the LAMP (an ADVANCED MATERIAL PLANT not a nuclear reactor) with a pop of 700,000. The Lynas LAMP is not even a nuclear plant. Lynas ore does not contain uranium only low level thorium 1/50th that of Burkit Merah (i.e. 2%) Like I said before In relative terms, the LAMP needs to be in OPERATIONS FOR FIFTY YEARS to produce the same radioactive content as 1 year production at Bukit Merah. Regards paste Q3: The anti lynas movement have used the "small fine particles" as a reason for opposing the dangers of Lynas. The viscous form of the REE ore would hold the ore as a large clump which would prevent people from inhaling the stuff (unless you eat it). The level of radiation is also so low that it is NOT even considered radioactive material for transform by the ENVIRO authorities of W.Aus. I am unfamiliar with the finer details of the extraction process of REE from the LAMP, however, I can assure you that it IS NOT AS SIMPLE AS EXTRACTING COPPER AND GOLD as you have claimed. The importants of rare earths to China and the rest of the world is summaried very well by the Chinese President Deng Xiaoping back in 1992. "There is oil in the Middle East; there are rare earths in China" You said " Have we become so hopeless that we must have this kind of industry to survive." To answer your Q, to an extent you have the ask the youth culture of today with their reliance on iphones, ipods, ipads, mp3's etc etc all getting smaller and smaller. Our destruction of our environment and climate change is also a cause for concern. This is where REE plays an important roll. The rare earth industry I am sure you are aware is not just important to the high tech industry of tomorrow, it also plays an integral part in development of green and sustainable industries of the future. The dangerous industries and the "scums" you call for are in reality those industries that rely on burning fossil fuels and hydrocarbons that are causing climate change and environmental damage such as the coal industry! LAMP and Lynas in some ways will help reduce the impact of global enviro destruction contrary to your perceived views. It's funny how some people commented "You should decide who you should listen to" when they actually meant "you should listen to me". Wallahua'lam. ------------------------------------ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ JIMedia: Memurnikan Tanggapan Umum Melalui Penyebaran Ilmu dan Maklumat ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nota: Kandungan mel ini tidak menggambarkan pendirian rasmi Pertubuhan Jamaah Islah Malaysia (JIM) melainkan yang dinyatakan sedemikian. Sila ke "JIM E-Bazaar" untuk membeli belah, membayar yuran program dan menyumbang untuk dakwah, di http://www.jim.org.my/e-bazaar/ Untuk melanggan Islah-Net, hantar e-mail ke [email protected] Untuk menghentikan langganan, hantar e-mail ke [email protected]! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/islah-net/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/islah-net/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
