Former Bentong MP Wong Tack criticised the recent signing of a memorandum of understanding between Lynas and Kelantan for the future supply of mixed rare-earths carbonate feedstock.

He cited the reason given by science, technology and innovation minister Chang Lih Kang for the extension of Lynas’s operating licence in October 2023, and the lack of updates since then.

“Lynas will extract thorium from their existing radioactive waste. Eventually, there will be no radioactive waste.

“This was the reason given and the promise made by the minister. Can the minister tell us what is the status of this ‘experiment’?” he said in a statement.

On May 30, Lynas announced that it had signed a non-binding MoU with Kelantan government’s investment arm Menteri Besar Inc with a framework to negotiate a deal for the future supply of mixed rare-earths carbonate feedstock.

In 2023, Chang had said the extension of Lynas’s operating licence until March 2026 was contingent on the company ensuring the radioactive content in water leach purification (WLP) residue was below one becquerel per gramme.

Items below 1Bq/g are not considered radioactive waste by the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) and do not come under the purview of the Atomic Energy Licensing Act.

“The decision of AELB is based on preliminary laboratory findings indicating that thorium radioactive elements can be extracted from WLP residues, allowing them to be released from legal controls under the AEL Act,” Chang had said.

Wong derided Malaysian participation in the deal as being reflective of its politicians’ “mentality of colonisers”.

“Does our wealth in natural resources mean we should flip our entire country over so we can all be millionaires and let our children shoulder the consequences?

“Is this the only way our politicians can think of to build our country’s economy: through the exploitation, extraction and destruction of our nation?” he said.