Abstract
The company Lynas mills and refines the concentrated rare earth bearing ore from its Mt. Weld/Australia mine in its LAMP facility in Kuantan/Malaysia. The ore concentrate has high concentrations of thorium and small concentrations of uranium as by-products. Oeko-Institute was commissioned with an independent evaluation of the environmental aspects of the plant. Several aspects show serious deficiencies in applying emission standards. The largest radiological problem is that the operator plans to re-use its tailings as road-building material. Large collective doses would result from this practice.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
AEC (1998) Applied Environmental Consulting (AEC): Evaluation of Exposure to Tech-nologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (TENORM) in the Phosphate Industry. – Bartow/Florida, July 1998
Bangi Ray (2011) Bangi Ray Services Sdn. Bhd.: Radiological Impact Assessment (RIA) of Lynas Advanced Materials Plant. – Rev. 2, December 2011
EC (2007) European Commission (EC): Reference Document on Best Available Techniques for the Manufacture of Large Volume Inorganic Chemicals - Ammonia, Acids and Fertilisers. – Brussels, August 2007
Environ Consultants (2007) Environ Consulting: Preliminary Environmental Impact As-sessment and Quantitative Risk Assessment - Proposed Advanced Materials Plant Gebeng Industrial Estate, Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia. – Selangor/Malaysia, January 2008
Hua, Liu (2011) The Situation of NORM in Non-Uranium Mining in China, Presentation of the Dept. of Nuclear Safety Management, Ministry of Environment Protection, China, (National Nuclear Safety Administration)
Qifan, Wu (2010) Enhanced Natural Radiation Exposure in China. – Presentation at the Third Symposium of Natural Radiation Exposure and Control, Aug 30- Sep 3,2010, Baotou, Inner Mongolia, China, hosted by Nuclear and Radiation Safety Center of MEP in co-operation with China Institute of Atomic Energy
RanhillWorley (2008) Lynas Advanced Materials Plant Expansion Philosophy. Prepared by Ranhill WorleyParsons Sdn Bhd, document No: 4219298-000-GE-DG-001-0F, Kuala Lumpur/Malaysia, 3 March 2008
RIA (2010) Radiological Impact Assessment of Advanced Materials Plant Gebeng Indus-trial Estate, Kuantan, Pahang. Prepared by Nuclear Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur/Malaysia, June 2010
Schmidt, Gerhard (2013): Gerhard Schmidt: Description and critical environmental evalua-tion of the REE refining plant LAMP near Kuantan/Malaysia. – Darmstadt/Germany, 25.01.2013
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by SMSL, an NGO based in Kuantan/Malaysia.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this paper
Cite this paper
Schmidt, G. (2015). Rare earth ore refining in Kuantan/Malaysia – the next legacy ahead?. In: Merkel, B., Arab, A. (eds) Uranium - Past and Future Challenges. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11059-2_32
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11059-2_32
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-11058-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-11059-2
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)