Antinuclear

Miti secretary general Rebecca Sta Maria said safety was the ministry’s top priority.

Last week the government revealed that it had rejected Lynas’ submissions on safety requirements for the RM1.5 billion rare earth refinery. This followed reports by the Australian Associated Press that Lynas was expected to commence operations late this year and begin commercially supplying radiation-risk rare earth by next year.

The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation told Parliament that it returned all the documents for corrections and additional information on Sept 19, two months after Lynas submitted them.

The government has also vowed to cease all operations, including the import of rare earth, until the Australia-based company has met all 11 conditions set by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and adopted by Putrajaya.

“We want investment, but we’re not willing to have investment at all costs,” Sta Maria said. “If we’re not convinced, we will not give them the licence. End of story….

The past few months have seen Lynas bringing in different experts to talk to the people. The company’s top managers began last month to move into homes in the Sungai Balok area. The river is nearest to the refinery site and is expected to suffer the brunt of the expected pollution.

But Sta Maria is adamant that Miti’s encouragement of Lynas’ engagement with the people should not be mistaken as defence of the mining giant.

“We are not a Lynas stooge,” she said…….

“We’re not in the business of covering up and we’re not going to do that for anyone. As far as we’re concerned, this has a long term impact on investor confidence. If we don’t tread carefully, it will come back to bite us.”

Raja Dato’ Abdul Aziz Raja Adnan, director general of the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB), backed up Sta Maria’s words on the tough government stand.

“Lynas’ documents are in their third revision and will continue to be revised until all conditions are met,” he said. “The government has decided to make the documents transparent. So we don’t want a document that we have approved and made transparent to receive a hammering from the rakyat.”

He said certain documents, like the ones on waste management, were evolving and questions would remain unanswered until the pre-operating stage was over.

“This is why the pre-operating stage is so important. It will determine whether we will proceed to the next stage. Once we agree to that, more information will be made public.”

He clarified that the green light had not been given for the operating stage, which is subject to another round of assessment and analysis.

When asked how for how long these documents would travel between Lynas and the government, Sta Maria replied that it would be for as long as the conditions were not met.

“It would be in Lynas’ best interest to meet our conditions,” she said. …

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/11/08/miti-on-lynas-plant-safety-is-top-priority/