Malaysia: Rare Earth Metal Refinery Nears Approval

[phantom power]

Despite the drop in prices for rare earths in the second half of last year, they remain several times higher than the long-term levels that prevailed until China began severely constricting exports in 2009. With China sharply reducing exports again last year as it closed refineries permanently or began refitting them with better environmental equipment, the underlying economics for the Malaysian refinery remain strong.

Lynas has been trying for several years to find a site for the permanent disposal of the roughly 20,000 tons a year of low-level radioactive waste that will be produced, and is still struggling to do so.

The International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna recommended last June that a long-term disposal plan be approved by regulators before the refinery starts operations. Lynas now says that it has met this goal with a plan that calls for storing up to 20 years of the refinery’s production waste in pits lined with plastic and clay at the refinery, plus a commitment to find a site for a permanent repository and build it. Raja Adnan said that the Malaysian board would require that Lynas meet all of the energy agency’s recommendations, but he declined to say whether the company’s waste disposal plan complied.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/business/global/rare-earth-metal-refinery-nears-approval-in-malaysia.html?_r=1