KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 7): The Malaysian Bar urges the government to revoke or suspend the Atomic Energy Licensing Board’s (AELB) decision to approve a Temporary Operating Licence for the Lynas advanced materials plant.

Malaysian Bar president Lim Chee Wee said on Tuesday the revocation or suspension was necessary pending the outcome of a detailed environmental impact assessment (EIA).

He said the Malaysian Bar deplored the AELB’s almost immediate approval of  the temporary licence on Jan 30, only four days after 1,123 comments had been submitted by the public from Jan 3 to Jan 26.

“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, in contravention of one of the recommendations of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s report dated June 30, 2011, which the government had pledged to comply with; namely, to inform interested and affected parties of the regulatory requirements, and to involve them.  Implicit in this is that AELB would do so in an adequate and proper manner,” he said.

Lim added that no detailed EIA had been conducted for the Lynas project, although such a requirement should, and would, be applicable.

This prerequisite is set out in the amended List of Prescribed Activities, item 17 of which states, “Prescribed activity using radioactive material(s) and generating radioactive waste(s)”.

The amendment to include such activities was effective on June 20, 2011, prior to the issuance of IAEA’s report dated June 30, 2011.