As mentioned before on this blog, anti-rare earth mining organisations are actually harming attempts to create a green economy in Malaysia. The good news is that Lynas Corporation has overcome these protests with a clean bill of health and is set to invest potentially billions of dollars in the Malaysian economy. At the same time, it will provide jobs for Malaysians and will put the country at the centre of the green revolution, which can only be good for the environment.
Rare earth elements or rare earth metals are a group of naturally occurring elements found in the lanthanide section of the periodic table, which are found in the Earth’s crust, but are often not found in concentrated form. There are 15 definite rare earth metals in this group, with two others – yttrium and scandium – considered to be rare earth metals as well, but which are not found in the lanthanide section.
Despite being plentiful, rare earth elements are not famous and few people will be able to name them. Throughout history they have been ignored, but now, thanks to the development of processors and green technology, these little pieces of metal are vital to the future economies and environments of the world.
Rare Earth – in almost all green-tech lifestyle devices.
For most of the last half-century or so, rare earth metals such as yttrium and cerium, have been used for processors in computers, laptops, cellular phones and tablet computers. They have fuelled MP3 players, flat-screen TVs and fibre optic cables.
Where Lynas Corp come in is with the ultimate uses of these metals. The products mentioned above are part of a lifestyle choice. They are accessories of gismos designed to make life easier or more fun and designed with the future of the planet in mind.
These elements are also used in water purification, petroleum refining and catalytic conversion. That means all cars with catalytic converters designed to reduce pollution are using rare earth metals. In 1993 there were an estimated 5.2 million cars in Malaysia. Now there are predictions that there will be 20 million by 2020. That is a lot of catalytic converters.
Hi-tech windmills harvesting wind for energy. This green technology windmill uses super-magnet which consist rare earth metal.
Countries and companies across the world are seeking ways to change the way they operate. People with means are trying to find greener technologies. Many of these countries are trying to get rid of fossil fuels altogether and are hoping to reduce reliance upon nuclear technology (Fukushima and Chernobyl show what can go wrong there). Luckily, rare earth metals form an integral part of developing green energy devices such as solar panels, rechargeable batteries for electronic cars, wind turbines, energy efficient lightbulbs and hybrid electric cars. Imagine 20 million electric cars and an end to smog in Kuala Lumpur.
As stated above, many of these rare earth metals are plentiful and naturally occurring in the Earth’s crust. The metal cerium, for example, is as common as copper. The biggest problems for rare earth extracting companies are the dispersed nature of these metals and by products or waste such as gypsum.
Lynas mines the majority of it rare earth elements from the Mt. Weld site in Australia. The company estimates that the site holds 23.9 million tons of mineral resource, 1.9 million tons of which will be rare earth minerals. To put this amount in context, the whole of China exports only 35,000 tons of rare earths a year. Lynas’ mining policy is designed to reduce the environmental damage as much as possible. This is done by maximising health and safety, community development for nearby settlements, plus commitments to the environment and to the local economy.
Founded in 1983 as Yilgangi Gold NL, the company changed its name to Lynas two years later. Founded by Nicholas Curtis, the sole focus of Lynas Corporation is to develop rare earths. This began with the Mt. Weld site in Australia and is currently building a new Lynas Advanced Materials Plant, or LAMP for short, in Kuantan.
The company is among a select few that are at the forefront of developing green technologies via rare earth metals. This has allowed the company to work with the Malaysian government to arrange a processing license in Kuantan.
Malaysian government and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) checks have proved that Lynas’ work meets all compliance and safety standards. This means the project is good for the environment as well as for the local and national economy.
Given pioneer status, the Kuantan site is subject to a 12-year tax exemption designed to help the company develop the site and to provide employment for hundreds of employees. This has allowed Lynas to invest USD730 into the site, making Malaysia responsible for a sixth of all rare earths investments in the globe.
The plan is ship mined materials from Mt. Weld in Fremantle, Australian to the port of Kuantan to be processed. This makes it economically easier for the processed materials to be exported around the world. As a result, the investment will create jobs in not only the refinement plant, but also at the Kuantan docks to process the ships, and with companies seeking to buy and ship the refined product. It is hoped that technology and logistics companies such as Motorola and ParcelForce will set up business in Kuantan to create green energy devices such as solar panels in Malaysia.
Lynas plant in Gebeng, Pahang
This helps to put Malaysia at the forefront of technological development, not just in Asia but in the world. It is clear from the economic developments of the last decade, that rare earth mining in Malaysia will not only benefit Malaysian technological companies in the domestic or south-east Asian markets, but would attract greater investment and trade with fast developing super economies such as China and India, who are in great need of rare earth metals.
Yes…go Lynas!! SMSL, Smart Malaysian Support Lynas. Not the idiots who say Save Malaysia Stop Lynas.
A very good one Rusini. Yes, Smart Malaysians Support Lynas!
rusini.. behave yourself.. don’t call them idiots, call them pukimak negara imbeciles will be more appropriate.. TQ..
Emmm…must get the Himpunan Hijau folks to come here and read this stuff…
Reblogged this on Hemi Sfera and commented:
HIMPUNAN HIJAU…Y U NO READ THIS??
Smart
!!!!!! – SMART MALAYSIANS SUPPORT LYNAS #1Malaysia
Yes I have read all sides but I still say, Stop Lynas, Save Malaysia. Read more, hear more. Learn especially from countries who have had such plants and the promises plus plenty of “green” studies before every single one of these plants. Even the experts had to eat their own words when things happen beyond their calculations. Bottom line – money or health. It is as simple as that.
Only the PAS nuclear scientist has the maturity, moral courage, integrity and conscience to maintain that there is NO RADIATION DANGER from the Lynas Chemical Plant!
Here are some facts with regards to the Radiation and the Lynas controversy:
Thoriun-232 is the only weakly radioactive element found in the Lynas waste product.
Thorium-232 decay produces only alpha particles which can be stopped by a piece of thin paper and cannot penetrate even the outer layer of the human skin, whereas potassium-40 in our normal diet produces the highly dangerous gamma and beta rays from all the 3 types of beta decay, i.e. electron emission, electron capture and positron emission.
A typical 5.5 MeV alpha particle can be expected to travel less than 0.005 cm in body fluids.
THE LONGER THE HALF-LIFE OF A SUBSTANCE THE LESS IS THE RADIOACTIVITY and as such the less dangerous it is.
As a simple analogy, if it takes 14,000,000,000 years for half of a house to be burnt, there is no chance of anybody getting hurt. But if it takes only 14 minutes for half of the house to be burnt down, a lot of people will be injured or killed.
Thorium-232 which is the only significant radioactive element found in the Lynas waste has an incredibly long half-life of 14 billion years and as such is much less radioactive than the Potassium-40 whose half-life is only 1.25 billion years.
Comparison of Radioactivity in Bq (number of atoms decaying in 1second)
Pure Thorium-232 = 4,080 Bq/gm
Pure Potassium-40 = 254,000 Bq/gm
Naturally Occurring Potassium (3 different isotopes) in our body and food = 31.825 Bq/gm
Artificially created Plutonium-238 = 634,000,000,000 Bq/gm (1/2 life=87.7 years)
Lynas Rare Earth Waste = 6 Bq/gm
It has been estimated that in the worst case scenario, the radiation risk from the Lynas plant is only 0.002 mSv/yr.
In Ramsar, Iran, the naturally occurring radiation
is extremely high at 260 mSv/yr. This is 13,000,000%higher than the expected worse case scenario in Kuantan.
And the people in Ramsar, Iran has been found to be healthier and live longer than the rest of the Iranians! There is also no increase in the number of cancer cases.
In the south western area of Kerala state in India, the Thorium-232 in the soil is as high as 4,000 parts per million as compared to the Lynas waste which has only 1,650 parts per million.
And studies have shown that the population which have been living all their lives in these areas, do not have a higher incidence of cancer and their blood and tissues do not have a significant increase in the level of Thorium.
We are exposed to radiation all our lives. In fact we get 4,400 Bq of radiation from the Potassium-40 with a further 3,000 Bq from Carbon-14 which forms part of our body tissues.
There is no way we can escape completely from radiation. Even outer space is full of radiation. The only way we can escape from all radiation is to leave this universe! or jump into the Kuantan River and be eaten by the crocodiles.
Come to think about it, this would not work either as human body as well as the croc’s body have their own intrinsic radioactivity!
con’t
Thorium-232 In Clay Soil Cannot Get Into Body Tissues
1. Ingestion
Thorium-232 is strongly bound (adsorbed) by soil especially clay soil. The Thorium concentration in the clay particles is about 500,000 % higher than in the water between the clay particles.
So, it cannot be leached out by water and pollute the rivers. Even if the clay soil is washed into the rivers and sea it will not do any harm as the thorium will still be strongly attached (adsorbed) to the clay and will not dissolve into the water.
When ingested there is insignificant absorption of the Thorium because of this strong bond between the clay particles and the Thorium. Practically all the Thorium will be excreted in the faeces with the clay.
Even when Thorium-232 is in the gut, it cannot do any significant harm as a typical 5.5 MeV alpha particle can be expected to travel less than 0.005 cm in body fluids, or much less in the semi-solid faeces.
That may be why, there is not a single well documented case of accidentally or environmentally ingested or inhaled Thorium-232 induced cancer in the intestines.
2. Inhalation
Because of its mass, Thorium-232 particles are very heavy and has great difficulty to get airborne.
Normally these particles get airborne only when they are very small and the only ones that can get deep into the lungs are those which are about 1 to 2 micron in diameter.
These fine particles are only found in the mines and experimental nuclear plants where powerful machines are used or where there is combustion. The chance of inhaling1 to 2 micron sized thorium particles in the Kuantan air is practically non-existent.
All lung disorders are associated with prolonged exposure in the mines or Thorium refining plants where the above conditions are present.
Thorium-232 produces only alpha rays (gamma rays from daughter isotopes are insignificant) which cannot pass through even a thin piece of paper or the surface of the skin.
If you have a lump of pure Thorium-232, all you need to do is to wrap it up in newspaper and that will stop all the alpha radiation from getting out!
Since alpha radiation cannot go far, even if you have a huge pile of Lynas waste, the external radiation would not increase by much because only the tiny percentage of thorium-232 atoms directly on the surface of the pile will be able to radiate out their alpha particles. Those just below the surface will remain inside the pile and be converted to simple helium gas.
The radiation of 6 bq/gm from the weakly radioactive Thorium-232 in the Lynas waste is so low that even IAEA do not consider it significant and as such can be transported without any special permission.
Moreover, Thorium-232 is not a Carcinogen (cancer causing agent) if Inhaled or Ingested according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer IARC.
Thorium-232 is considered to be a carcinogen only IF ADMINISTERED INTRAVENOUSLY AS A COLLOIDAL DISPERSION OF THORIUM-232 DIOXIDE.
con’t
It was claimed that a 20 year study in one of the largest rare earth mine, the Bayun Obo mine has shown that inhalation Thorium has proven to cause lung cancer. The number of miners in 2001 were 6,983 of which 3016 were exposed to dense dust in the mine.
After correcting for the heavy smoking, there was an excess of 10 cases of lung cancer in workers who had worked for about 30 years or so in the mine.
But this study cannot exclude crystalline silica (SiO2) in the dust as being the cause of the lung cancers. Silica is a confirmed carcinogen while Thorium by inhalation or ingestion is not.
AND MOREOVER, KUANTAN PEOPLE ARE NOT RARE EARTH OR THORIUM MINERS!
The rare earth miners in the case of the Lynas Rare Earth Plant are still in a place called Mount Weld in Western Australia!
If there is any long term lung problem, the Australians are the ones who will be getting those problems and not the Kuantan people.
Kuantan people are just ordinary traders, office workers, taxi drivers or just hanging around doing nothing in the air-conditioned malls.
It is tantamount to claiming that since workers in the granite quarries and underground tin mines developed severe lung disease (silicosis) and lung cancer from inhaling dust containing silica (sand), the millions of tons of sand in our beaches should be relocated to somewhere safe or shipped back to…?Australia.
Definite evidence that crystalline silica (Sand, Sio2) is associated with an increased rate of lung cancer led the International Agency for Research on
Cancer (IARC) to conclude in 1997 that crystalline silica is a known human
carcinogen.
There is also a fear that the waste will be dumped all over the place. Unfortunately, this risk also apply to all our factories and plants. Should we demand that all our factories and plants to be closed down so that we can go back to the good old days of tapping rubber and plucking coconuts for the BIG WHITE MAN?
And what about other pollution and/or radiation sources in the environment before Lynas even starts. For example, a 1,000MW coal plant after just 1 year of operation produces 6,000,000 tons of CO2, 44,000 tons of SO2, 22,000 tons of NO2, 320,000 tons of ash containing 400 tons of heavy metals (arsenic, mercury, cadmium, lead etc.) and, here’s the kicker, including 5 tons or Uranium and 12 tons of Thorium from which the radon gas of both decay chains are out the chimney and into our air… and we are building TWO of these now to add to those we already have on the peninsula.
con’t
3. External Threat
Thorium-232 produces only alpha rays (gamma rays from daughter isotopes are insignificant) which cannot pass through even a thin piece of paper or the surface of the skin.
Even a giant lump of Thorium-232 containing material will radiate alpha particles only from the tiny amount of Thorium-232 atoms on it’s surface as all the alpha particles produced by those inside the lump cannot penetrate even a couple of centimetres, so even if we have a small mountain of material containing Thorium-232, it makes not much difference
.
A simple newspaper wrapping would stop all alpha radiation from a lump of Thorium-232.
Someone claimed that although Thorium-232 may not be dangerous, all their “daughter” isotopes have very short half-lives like Radon-220 and these are highly radioactive, so how could we say that Thorium-232 is not dangerous.
Well, the reason is obvious. But I find great difficulty in explaining to the layman the reason why when an element with an extremely long half-life that decays into isotopes with very short half-life, there is minimal accumulation of the short half-life isotopes and as such do not build up into a large enough quantity to pose any significant hazard.
I will try to explain by this simple analogy.
If there are 2 million people waiting outside a stadium and 1 million people managed to get into the stadium after 14,000,000,000 years (half-life of Thorium-232), it means that you will see only 1 person getting into the stadium every 14,000 years.
But once in the stadium the half-life of the new person (half-life of Radon-220 from the Thorium-232 decay chain is only 55 seconds) is so short when compared with those outside (Thorium-232) that he has left the stadium almost immediately. Getting in is extremely slow but getting out is extremely fast!
Since only 1 person gets into the stadium every 14,000 years, if you look into the stadium you will see it as empty most of the time!
It is just like trying to fill up a bucket by a slow, slow drop by drop drip and the bucket has a big hole at the bottom. If you look into the bucket you will see practically little or no water in it!
Since the Lynas waste product has only 6 Bq/gm of radioactivity, the chance of detecting any significant amount of radon gas is pretty slim indeed.
con’t
4.Unnatural Routes of Entry
The only way Thorium can gain entry into the body is by injection. In the past where huge doses of 25cc to 50 cc of a 25%solution of Thorium dioxide (Thorotrast) was injected into the vein for contrast radiological studies, a very small number of patients were believed to have developed cancers 20 to 30 years later. Even with these extremely high unnatural doses, there was no acute toxicity.
In the south of the state of Kerala in India the soil contains as much as 4,000 ppm (parts of Thorium per million). Studies have shown that there is little or no accumulation of Thorium-232 in the inhabitants.
The Lynas waste contains only 1,650 ppm.
Over the last 45 years since I developed a special interest in nuclear medicine and particle physics, I have not come across any well documented and well proven report of any human being severely injured or killed by accidental or environmental inhalation or ingestion of Thorium-232.
We need to compare this with the 15,000 people murdered in the USA every year and the 2 to 3 million people killed by Malaria worldwide yearly!
So if Thorium cannot enter the body in significant amounts by ingestion or inhalation and alpha rays do not pose an external threat, what’s all the big fuss about the Lynas rare earth plant ?
5. Australians building Giant Rare Earth Plant in Australia:
It should also be noted that Australians are delighted that a company called Arafura is building a huge Rare Earth Processing Plant costing over A$1 Billion in Whyalla in South Australia.
This plant is expected to produce over 1,000 high paying jobs for the Australians.
Arafura must be hoping that we are stupid enough to stop Lynas and stop competing with them.
Remember the Tin slags from the Eastern Smelting and Straits Trading in Penang ? These, which contain the tantalum and monazite ore, and the monazite ore can be more than 3,700 % more radioactive than the Lynas waste.
And these radioactive tin slags were used to fill up the old Penang Stadium and the roads in Penang. A lot of these has already been stolen and sold off at a huge profit, but a lot still remains in the roads in Butterworth and Penang island.
The people in Penang have not developed Cancer so far as a result of these slags!
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB.,ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London)
Kuantan,
Dear Sir,
Lynas Negligible Radiation but only Toxic Chemical Waste
I have always maintained that the main problem is not radiation but the normal chemical toxic wastes from a normal chemical plant.
I agree that there is also a fear that the waste will be dumped all over the place. Unfortunately, this risk also apply to all our factories and plants. Should we demand that all our factories and plants to be closed down so that we can go back to the good old days of tapping rubber and plucking coconuts for the BIG WHITE MAN?
And why we only target Lynas and not the rest of all our factories and industrial plants which produce far more toxic wastes especially our own oil palm mills and tin mining and smelting industries?
Using the same logic we should ask all these plants to send all their wastes back to Germany, England, US etc. I bet with you nobody would want to invest in Malaysia. We will remain poor and may have to send our daughters to work as lowly domestic maids in other countries.
Quote Ng Ai Soo
“And what about other pollution and/or radiation sources in the environment before Lynas even starts. For example, a 1,000MW coal plant after just 1 year of operation produces 6,000,000 tons of CO2, 44,000 tons of SO2, 22,000 tons of NO2, 320,000 tons of ash containing 400 tons of heavy metals (arsenic, mercury, cadmium, lead etc.) and, here’s the kicker, including 5 tons or Uranium and 12 tons of Thorium from which the radon gas of both decay chains are out the chimney and into our air… and we are building TWO of these now to add to those we already have on the peninsula.”
I hope the explanation by Jonathan Fun will also help.
By Jonathan Fun reply to Hon. Prof Chan’s Letter
Quote:
“I read with great interest the debate and evidences shown by both sides.
While acknowledging Prof. Chan’s arguments, doubts, concerns, and counter-evidences on the effects of Thorium, I must agree with Datuk Dr. Looi and Ng Ai Soo’s points in what I’d like to call “Selective Rejection”.
We all know the effects of Thorium to our health through the inhalation route; microscopic thorium dusts entering our bloodstream, majority of those amounts will be deposited in our bone marrows and stays there for the next 22 years, emitting alpha radiation, increasing risks to cancer, etc.
But again, consider Ng Ai Soo’s comment from Chan’s previous article :
” And what about other pollution and/or radiation sources in the environment before Lynas even starts. For example, a 1,000MW coal plant after just 1 year of operation produces 6,000,000 tons of CO2, 44,000 tons of SO2, 22,000 tons of NOx, 320,000 tons of ash containing 400 tons of heavy metals (arsenic, mercury, cadmium, lead etc.)
And, here’s the kicker, including 5 tons or Uranium and 12 tons of Thorium from which the radon gas of both decay chains are out the chimney and into our air… and we are building TWO of these now to add to those we already have on the peninsula.
Where do we store this waste? Does this waste go into making our roads or construction material? What is Lynas waste in comparison?! How did we manage to put up with that yearly radioactive and toxic waste, and plan to build more of the same, with no objection from you?
Be fair… if you want to protect us from industrial radiation pollution, then tackle the whole lot of them in proportion to their pollution, not just Lynas. Dr. Looi’s presentation of the facts is clear and persuasive compared with the unnecessary fear, uncertainty and doubt that taints your article in reply to him. ”
The keyword here IMHO is “Uncertainty”, which brings us back to the discussion of the “Precautionary Principle”.
There is nothing wrong being doubtful of the effects of Thorium, hence rejecting it, and there is nothing wrong being confident that Thorium wastes that will be produced by Lynas if they are given the green light to operate, are going to be safe, given the scientific facts that proves it.
But what I’d like to implore those hardcore Anti-Lynas/Anti-Rare Earth/Anti-Whatever friends out there to understand, is that when we make a stand, it must be based on a principle, and for the stand to be credible and fair, it must be applied across the board.
So we know iron/copper mines also produces not just Thorium, but Radium and Uranium wastes too.
And we know rock phosphate fertilizer production facilities also produces not just Thorium, but Radium and Uranium wastes too.
Hence, if the reason we are all so head over heals about throwing Lynas out of our shores is because of the potential hazards of Thorium, or the uncertainty that Thorium will be safe, then let our will be done. Reject Lynas. Get them out of the country. Shoo.
But we can’t let existing industries which are also producing Thorium wastes, like iron/copper mines and fertilizer plants, to continue operating as well. Reject any industry that produces Thorium wastes. Get them out of the country. Shoo.
Can we all agree on this stand? Else going all out to reject Lynas while allowing existing industries that also produces Thorium wastes to continue operation is just plain hypocritical. ”
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB.,ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London)
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
April 5, 2012 at 12:32 am
My Reply to Soo Jin Hou’s Letter in the Sun Daily
“LET’S de-politicise the Lynas issue” (Letters, March 23) refers.
The writer said 0.02% to 0.05% of ingested thorium is absorbed and gets into the blood stream.
Absorption studies were done on animals for obvious reasons, and in the vast majority of these, the thorium was not mixed with clay, which binds very strongly to the clay particles i.e. adsorbed.
Thorium-232 is strongly bound (adsorbed) by soil especially clay soil. The thorium concentration in the clay particles is about 500,000% higher than in the water between the clay particles (the interstitial spaces of the clay particles). So, it cannot be leached out by water or intestinal juice.
When ingested, there is insignificant absorption of the thorium because of this strong bond between clay particles and thorium. Practically all the thorium will be excreted in the faeces with the clay.
So the actual amount of thorium that is absorbed into the blood stream when mixed with clay soil as in the case of the Lynas waste is much, much less than 0.02%.
Since Lynas waste contains 1,650 parts of thorium per million and even if we take the inflated rate of 0.02% absorption, it would mean that to get 0.33g of thorium into the blood stream, we have to swallow 1,000kg (1 tonne) of Lynas waste!
Practically all the data on the carcinogenic effects of thorium-232 was obtained retrospectively from the intravenous use of a massive dose of thorium dioxide called Thorotrast (a 25cc vial of a 25% colloidal suspension of thorium dioxide) in investigative radiological studies.
Studies appear to show that a small number out of the 4 million patients who were given this massive dose of 1 or 2 vials (containing 5.58g to 11.7g of thorium) of Thorotrast, developed cancer especially of the liver 20 to 30 years later in their old age.
So in order to get 5.58g of thorium-232 (equivalent to 1 vial of Thorotrast), we have to swallow an incredible 17,000kg or 17 tonnes of Lynas waste!
I do not think anybody in Kuantan will be able to swallow 17 tonnes of Lynas waste … and that is assuming that the thorium-232 is not strongly adsorbed to clay particles.
With respect to the inhalation of thorium-232, all studies were conducted on workers in the uranium or thorium mining or refining industry and not on populations in towns like Kuantan, and therefore do not apply to the present issue.
Datuk Dr Looi Hoong Wah
Kuantan
There is an article in the Malaysian Mirror by Prof Chan Chee Khoon which claims that there is an increase in the number of leukaemia cases in children living near nuclear plants and as such implies that there is no safe level of radiation. Here is my reply to him.
In your article you have conveniently excluded the following and that may distort the true picture.
1) The British study (COMARE) published in 2010 clearly showed that there is no increase in the number of leukaemia cases in young children living near nuclear power plants.
This study which covers a period of over 35 years is far more comprehensive than the French study which covers only a period of 5 years.
The research, conducted by scientists on the Committee of the Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE), found only 20 cases of childhood leukaemia within 5 km (3.1 miles) of nuclear power stations between 1969 and 2004.
The rate was virtually the same as in areas where there were no nuclear plants.
A study on Germany, published in 2007, did find a significantly increased risk, but the COMARE team said these findings were probably influenced by an unexplained leukaemia cluster near a nuclear plant in Krummel, north Germany, that lasted from 1990 to 2005.
Excluding Krummel, evidence for an increased leukaemia risk among young children living close to German nuclear power plants was “extremely weak”, it said.
The French study found that between 2002 and 2007 (only 5 years), 14 children under the age of 15 living in a 5-kilometre radius of France’s 19 nuclear power plants had been diagnosed with leukaemia.
This number of cases (14 in 5 years) is so small that even a small unaccounted unknown factor would lead to a false statistical result.
2) Nuclear plants are so well shielded that there is no increase in the radiation level outside the plant.
The only type of “radiation” which cannot be shielded are the neutrinos which are created in great numbers in the nuclear reactors. But we must remember that Trillions upon Trillions of neutrinos from the sun and other sources pass through our bodies every second !
3) The Lynas plant is not a nuclear power plant and trying to compare findings from an nuclear plant to that of an ordinary chemical plant is like trying to compare an elephant with a tiny little caterpillar !
4) To imply that there is no safe level of radiation is like saying that there is no safe level of bacteria and other micro-organisms in the human body…. without realising that 90% of the living cells in the human body are micro-organisms. And without these micro-organisms we would not be able to stay healthy for long.
There is now more and more evidence to suggest that we need a certain amount of radiation to stimulate our immune system in order to stay healthy.
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB.,ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London)
There are only 2 natural ways of getting any substance into your body:
1. By Eating it (Ingestion) or
2. By Breathing it (Inhalation)
Thorium-232 in clay soil cannot get into you blood stream if you eat it because of it’s strong adsorption to clay (stuck firmly to clay).
As explained below, you need to eat far more than 17,000 Kilograms of Lynas waste before you can get cancer in about 30 years time in your old age.
Likewise, you need to breathe in 3.4 Kilograms of Lynas waste (in order to get 5.58 gm of Thorium or 1 vial of Thorotrast) to get cancer in about 30 years time !
As stated, Kuantan people are not MINERS and as such it is impossible to inhale 3.4 Kilograms even in a life-time !
Thorium-232 is harmless when outside the body as it produces only alpha rays which cannot penetrate even a thin piece of paper.
All you have to do is to wrap it up in a piece of newspaper and it will become virtually non-radioactive.
So if Thoriun-232 cannot get into the body in significant amount by inhalation or ingestion and it poses not external threat,
HOW and WHY on earth IS IT CONSIDERED TO BE SO DANGEROUS BY THE ANTI-LYNAS PEOPLE ?
My Reply to Soo Jin Hou’s Letter in the Sun Daily
“LET’S de-politicise the Lynas issue” (Letters, March 23) refers.
The writer said 0.02% to 0.05% of ingested thorium is absorbed and gets into the blood stream. Absorption studies were done on animals for obvious reasons, and in the vast majority of these, the thorium was not mixed with clay, which binds very strongly to the clay particles i.e. adsorbed.
Thorium-232 is strongly bound (adsorbed) by soil especially clay soil. The thorium concentration in the clay particles is about 500,000% higher than in the water between the clay particles (the interstitial spaces of the clay particles). So, it cannot be leached out by water or intestinal juice.
When ingested, there is insignificant absorption of the thorium because of this strong bond between clay particles and thorium. Practically all the thorium will be excreted in the faeces with the clay.
So the actual amount of thorium that is absorbed into the blood stream when mixed with clay soil as in the case of the Lynas waste is much, much less than 0.02%.
Since Lynas waste contains 1,650 parts of thorium per million and even if we take the inflated rate of 0.02% absorption, it would mean that to get 0.33g of thorium into the blood stream, we have to swallow 1,000kg (1 tonne) of Lynas waste!
Practically all the data on the carcinogenic effects of thorium-232 was obtained retrospectively from the intravenous use of a massive dose of thorium dioxide called Thorotrast (a 25cc vial of a 25% colloidal suspension of thorium dioxide) in investigative radiological studies.
Studies appear to show that a small number out of the 4 million patients who were given this massive dose of 1 or 2 vials (containing 5.58g to 11.7g of thorium) of Thorotrast, developed cancer especially of the liver 20 to 30 years later in their old age.
So in order to get 5.58g of thorium-232 (equivalent to 1 vial of Thorotrast), we have to swallow an incredible 17,000kg or 17 tonnes of Lynas waste!
I do not think anybody in Kuantan will be able to swallow 17 tonnes of Lynas waste … and that is assuming that the thorium-232 is not strongly adsorbed to clay particles.
With respect to the inhalation of thorium-232, all studies were conducted on workers in the uranium or thorium mining or refining industry and not on populations in towns like Kuantan, and therefore do not apply to the present issue.
Datuk Dr Looi Hoong Wah
Kuantan
It all boils down to the whether the people who lives nearby wants LYNAS or not. If they dont then get out of there. How do you like it if they build LYNAS next to your house?
All the Anti-Lynas foot soldiers and RED GUARDS BARU should realise that they have been misled by some very sophisticated ultra-devious people who are experts in mass brainwashing and are using the issue to gain political mileage for their own evil ulterior motives.
In Bukit Merah, the radiation comes from Thorium and Uranium which are our own and has been in Malaysia for billions of years.
Although the radiation level is well over 37 times that of the Lynas waste, there is no definite well controlled scientific proof that the cases of leukaemia and birth defects are caused by radiation from the waste.
I have seen lots of cases of leukaemia and other types of cancer as well as birth defects over the last 45 years or so in Malaysia and unfortunately we do not have Lynas around at that time to use as a scapegoat.
Unscrupulous people have been using videos and pictures of patients with congenital abnormalities and other illnesses to instil fear into the population. There is absolutely no scientific proof that these cases are caused by radiation.
Only the absolute scum of the Malaysian society would use pictures and videos of these unfortunate patients whose disorders have nothing to do with radiation to score political points !
In the south of the state of Kerala in India the soil contains as much as 4,000 ppm (parts of Thorium per million). Studies have shown that there is little or no accumulation of Thorium-232 in the inhabitants.
The Lynas waste contains only 1,650 ppm.
It has been estimated that in the worst case scenario, the radiation risk from the Lynas plant is only 0.002 mSv/yr.
In Ramsar, Iran, the naturally occurring radiation
is extremely high at 260 mSv/yr.
This is 13,000,000% higher than the expected worse case scenario in Kuantan.
And the people in Ramsar, Iran has been found to be healthier and live longer than the rest of the Iranians! There is also no increase in the number of cancer cases.
Remember the Tin slags from the Eastern Smelting and Straits Trading in Penang ? These, which contain the tantalum and monazite ore, and the monazite ore can be more than 3,700 % more radioactive than the Lynas waste.
And these radioactive tin slags were used to fill up the old Penang Stadium and the roads in Penang. A lot of these has already been stolen and sold off at a huge profit, but a lot still remains in the roads in Butterworth and Penang island.
The people in Penang have not developed Cancer so far as a result of these slags!
Even ordinary Sand (crystalline silica, SiO2) is classified as a group 1 Carcinogen (a confirmed cancer causing agent), but as you know, we do not expect a huge number of people in living in the deserts or along the seashores to die from silica induced lung cancer.
The lung cancer risk occurs only when fine sand (silica) is inhaled by miners for a prolonged period in the quarries and mines i.e. silica is not a carcinogen when ingested and of course not when injected for nobody would allow you to inject sand into their veins.
Thorium-232 is a very weakly radioactive substance and produces only alpha particles which cannot even penetrate a thin piece of paper.
All you have to do is to wrap it up in a piece of newspaper and it is for all intents an purposes, is non-radioactive !
” Thorium-232 is considered to be a carcinogen only IF ADMINISTERED INTRAVENOUSLY AS A COLLOIDAL DISPERSION OF THORIUM-232 DIOXIDE.”
It is not considered to be a cancer causing substance if taken orally or inhaled according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer IARC, just like silica (sand) which is not carcinogenic if ingested.
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB.,ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London)
One of the anti-lynas maintained that the International Agency for Research for Cancer IARC listed Thorium-232 as a group 1 Carcinogen (a definite cancer causing drug.
But this is only a half truth.
Thorium-232 is considered a group 1 carcinogen on condition that :
” Thorium-232 is considered to be a carcinogen only IF ADMINISTERED INTRAVENOUSLY AS A COLLOIDAL DISPERSION OF THORIUM-232 DIOXIDE.”
That is it is a cancer causing agent ONLY if the Thorium-232 is injected into the vein and NOT a cancer causing agent if it is ingested or inhaled.
NOBODY FROM LYNAS IS GOING ROUND INJECTING THE KUANTAN PEOPLE WITH THORIUM-232!
You can find the data even in Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_IARC_Group_1_carcinogens
Normally the IARC list do not detail the conditions which is attached to the agent before it can be deemed to be carcinogenic.
You can find the data in the IARC monograph when they approved the labelling of Thorium-232 as a carcinogen.
For instance ordinary Sand (crystalline silica, SiO2) is classified as a group 1 Carcinogen (a confirmed cancer causing agent), but as you know, we do not expect a huge number of people in living in the deserts or along the seashores to die from cancer.
The lung cancer risk occurs only when fine sand (silica) is inhaled by miners for a prolonged period in the quarries and mines i.e. silica is not a carcinogen when ingested and of course not when injected for nobody would allow you to inject sand into their veins.
The same condition apply to Thorium-232 i.e.
” Thorium-232 is considered to be a carcinogen only IF ADMINISTERED INTRAVENOUSLY AS A COLLOIDAL DISPERSION OF THORIUM-232 DIOXIDE.”
Part of the IARC list of Carcinogens in :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_IARC_Group_1_carcinogens
• Schistosoma haematobium (infection with)
• Silica, crystalline (inhaled in the form of quartz or cristobalite from occupational sources)
• Solar radiation
• Talc containing asbestiform fibres
• Tamoxifen5
• 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-para-dioxin
• Thiotepa (1,1′,1″-Phosphinothioylidynetrisaziridine)
• Thorium-232 and its decay products, administered intravenously as a colloidal dispersion of thorium-232 dioxide
• Treosulfan
• ortho-Toluidine
• Vinyl chloride
• Ultraviolet Radiation
• X-Radiation and Gamma radiation
Best regards,
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB.,ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London)
Quote from NK Khoo’s Blog
http://www.nkkhoo.com/2012/03/04/banana-is-more-radioactive-than-lynas-rare-earth-by-product/comment-page-4/#comment-9873
These are scientific radioactive facts purposely ignored by anti-Lynas group.
Fact 1: Lynas radioactive residue contain a very low level of radiation at 6 Bq/G.
Fact 2: Banana with natural potassium level of radiation is about 31 Bq/g. [15 Bq for a banana or 0.2Bq/G]
G is for the weight of substance in gram, g is for the weight for natural radioactive material in gram. [Revised on 5/3/2012, 7.11PM.]
I eats radioactive bananas every week, so what?
Actually, we adult human body contains 250g of potassium and 0.012% is the radioactive beta emitter potassium-40 (half-life 1.3 x 109 yr). Therefore, the activity of potassium-40 in the body is 7600 Bq. Its radioactivity is 500 times stronger than a banana and equivalent to 1.3 Kg Water Leach Purification (WLP) residue from Lynas.
Should we commit suicide for having a small quantity of radioactive substance in our body?
Mind you, Potassium-40 is 62 times more radioactive than Thorium-232. Beta particle in Potassium-40 is more energized than alpha particle from Thorium-232 and it can penetrate through our skin.
Unless you are living in the wooden house, the cements used in your house also has the natural radioactivity from Th-232, Ra-226 and K-40, certain cement has more radioactive doses than Lynas waste.
I have no problem to use Lynas waste to build my house since the cement we used now also has the same level of natural radioactivity if anti-Lynas supporters are willing to pay for the construction cost.
Any taker for my appeal? I am becoming a guinea pig to prove my point is right.
The keyword here is the dose of alpha and beta radioactive particles from Thorium-232 and Potassium-40 are too small and distributed evenly in the huge population for both cases.
A reader points out (the accuracy is subject to expert review)
A miner for Potassium chloride (16.4 Bq/G) would only need to be near the big pile of mine for about 7 hours to exceed the public dose limit of 1 mSv.
This exposure level is same dose of radiation as working 6 months in LAMP or living 500 years near it.
The message here is more radioactive substance is freely sold in the shop and used as a fertilizer for food source like paddy.
Dato’ Dr Looi
There was a ridiculous claim in the Sin Chew Newspaper by the chairman of a certain Himpunan Hijau NGO that since Thorium-232 has a half-life of 14 Billion years, it is very dangerous for a long long long time.
He should not be making any such nonsensical statements if he has absolutely no basic knowledge of even elementary kindergarten physics.
I do not mind if this is a case of the blind leading the blind.
It looks more like a case of a blind newborn trying to lead those with one eye !
THE LONGER THE HALF-LIFE OF A SUBSTANCE THE LESS IS THE RADIOACTIVITY and as such the less dangerous it is.
As a simple analogy, if it takes 14,000,000,000 years for half of a house to be burnt, there is no chance of anybody getting hurt. But if it takes only 14 minutes for half of the house to be burnt down, a lot of people will be injured or killed.
Lead-208 i.e. the so-called non-radioactive lead has an even longer half-life of
19 Million Billion Years and as such the radioactivity is so low that it is practically undetectable and we use it in our car batteries.
Thorium-232 which is the only significant radioactive element found in the Lynas waste has an incredibly long half-life of 14 billion years and as such is much less radioactive than the Potassium-40 whose half-life is only 1.25 billion years.
Comparison of Radioactivity in Bq (number of atoms decaying in 1second)
Pure Thorium-232 = 4,080 Bq/gm
Pure Potassium-40 (Half-life of 1.25 billion yrs) = 254,000 Bq/gm
Naturally Occurring Potassium (3 different isotopes) in our body and food = 31.825 Bq/gm
Artificially created Plutonium-238 (1/2 life=87.7 years)
= 634,000,000,000 Bq/gm
Lynas Rare Earth Waste = 6 Bq/gm
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB.,ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London)
All the anti-Lynas people must consider these TWO contradictions:
1. They assume that they are “saving” the people of Kuantan from dangerous Fukushima style Radiation and preventing their descendants from congenital defects for millions of years etc.
However, this, of course, is a blatant misconception but if we take this argument a little further, we have to ask why are they still using their computers, handphones, iPads, printers, cars etc. and all the modern facilities since all these need the rare earth elements.
AND SOMEONE HAS TO MINE AND REFINE THESE RARE EARTH ELEMENTS !
At present, about 97% of these rare earths are mined and refined in China. So we have to conclude that these Anti-Lynas people who continue to use all the modern facilities WOULD NOT CARE TWO HOOTS ABOUT ALL THOSE MILLIONS OF CHINESE IN CHINA WHO ARE SUFFERING FROM THE DETRIMENTAL EFFECTS OF RADIATION AND POLLUTION !
IT IS OK FOR PEOPLE IN OTHER COUNTRIES TO SUFFER AND DIE FOR US BUT IT IS NOT OK FOR US TO SUFFER AND DIE FOR OTHERS!
THIS TYPE OF ATTITUDE IS PURE HYPOCRISY.. HYPOCRISY AT ITS LOWEST AND MOST DESPICABLE LEVEL !
2. If, as it was alleged and assumed that the main aim of the Anti-Lynas people were to maintain the virtual monopoly of the world market by China, then it is definitely counterproductive and obviously going to backfire as
THIS WOULD CALL INTO QUESTION THE LOYALTY AND INTEGRITY OF ALL OVERSEAS CHINESE IN THE WHOLE WORLD AND WOULD CAUSE GREAT HARM AND INSULT TO PEOPLE OF CHINESE ORIGIN IN THE WORLD OUTSIDE CHINA !
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB.,ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London)
Quote from Rahim Sulong in NKKhoo blog
• Rahim Sulong
“I still cannot understand what is going wrong with all these ignorance selfish hypocrite anti-Lynas supporters.
First, they claimed “no safe levels of radiation”. When people showed them a list of radioactive food they eat everyday, they went blank.
Then, they made their own Australian rules and regulations, which later proven to be their wild imagination.
Then, they kept highlighting the 14.5 billion years half life of Thorium-232, when people told them the age of earth is only 4.54 billion years old, human with 80 life expectancy does not stand much chance to be kill by Thorium-232, they went blank again.
Then, they accusing the 12 tax exemption. When people compared the 1970s oil and gas industries scenario with them, they went blank AGAIN.
They even came out with the stupid criticism why Australian building a plant in Malaysia.
Where is their common sense? Do they still have any integrity and pride?
According to the news, the Save Malaysia Stop Lynas group (SMSL) found that radiation near the plant was 0.19 microsievert/hr, while the dump site was 0.20 microsievert/hr, which gives the radiation exposure of 4.8 microsievert/day and 1.752 milisievert/year. The photo showed a member of the group holding a radiation detector about 4 meter from the ground.
Now, allow me to share some HARD FACTS about radiation in this world.
Guarapari, a coastal town in Brazil. Population about 100,000++. Every year, many people visit the beach with black sand in this town for sea swimming and treatment of rheumatoid. The usual beach sand in Guarapari has a radiation dose of 5 microsievert/hour. The black sand is even higher with 131 microsievert/hour. Average radiation exposure of Guarapari is 175 milisievert/year. The radioactivity is originated from the the mountains rich in zirconites and monazites along the coast.
Ramsar, a city in Iran with population of 31,000++. The average dose of radiation received by people in Ramsar is about 10 milisievert/year, and can reach level in exceed of 260 milisievert/year. Most of the radiation in the area is due to dissolved Radium-226 in water of 9 hot springs along with smaller amounts of uranium and thorium due to travertine (limestone) deposits.
Kerala, a coastal belt in India. A study conducted in 1990 covered 76,000 households in 12 local councils of Karunagapally. The radiation at Karunagapally has been assessed at 5 to 8 milisievert/year. In certain location on the coast, it is as high as 70 milisievert/year. Thorium was mined in this area from monazites.
Is 0.20 microsievert/hr is dangerous? You can do your own calculation.
Before I end, I would like to discuss about the photo shown in the media. The instrument is identiFINDER capable of detecting the presence of gamma radiation and identifying the radionuclide. It also able to detect x-ray source as well as presence of neutron in the radiation.
My curiosity is that, SMSL did not shared the radionuclide that they identified. I also wish to know if the photo is showing a recorded reading, or a real-time reading.”
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB.,ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London)
I think u meant USD730 million invested in the site?
And what about other pollution and/or radiation sources in the environment before Lynas even starts.
For example, a 1,000MW coal plant after just 1 year of operation produces 6,000,000 tons of CO2, 44,000 tons of SO2, 22,000 tons of NO2, 320,000 tons of ash containing 400 tons of heavy metals (arsenic, mercury, cadmium, lead etc.) and, here’s the kicker, including 5 tons or Uranium and 12 tons of Thorium from which the radon gas of both decay chains are out the chimney and into our air… and we are building TWO of these now to add to those we already have on the peninsula.
Where do we store this waste? Does this waste go into making our roads or construction material? What is Lynas waste in comparison?! How did we manage to put up with that yearly radioactive and toxic waste, and plan to build more of the same, with no objection from you?
So to be fair we have to close down all our power plants, factories and industrial plants and go back to the good old days of plucking coconuts and tapping rubber for the BIG WHITE MAN!
The Anti-Lynas people are adamant that we should insist that Lynas waste should be sent back to Australia.
Using the same logic, we should ask Intel, Motorolla, Seagate and all the foreign factories to send all their waste back to England, USA, Germany, Taiwan and Japan.
I can bet with you that no SANE foreigner would be stupid enough to invest in malaysia and with all our factories closed we would remain a poor agricultural country.
AND OUR DESCENDANTS WILL HAVE TO SEND THEIR DAUGHTERS TO WORK AS MAIDS AND DOMESTIC SERVANTS IN MYAMMAR AND KAMPUCHEA!
Remember the Tin slags from the Eastern Smelting and Straits Trading in Penang ? These, which contain the tantalum and monazite ore, and the monazite ore can be more than 3,700 % more radioactive than the Lynas waste.
And these radioactive tin slags were used to fill up the old Penang Stadium and the roads in Penang. A lot of these has already been stolen and sold off at a huge profit, but a lot still remains in the roads in Butterworth and Penang island.
The people in Penang have not developed Cancer so far as a result of these slags!
Even ordinary Sand (crystalline silica, SiO2) is classified as a group 1 Carcinogen (a confirmed cancer causing agent), but as you know, we do not expect a huge number of people in living in the deserts or along the seashores to die from silica induced lung cancer.
The lung cancer risk occurs only when fine sand (silica) is inhaled by miners for a prolonged period in the quarries and mines i.e. silica is not a carcinogen when ingested and of course not when injected for nobody would allow you to inject sand into their veins.
Thorium-232 is a very weakly radioactive substance and produces only alpha particles which cannot even penetrate a thin piece of paper.
All you have to do is to wrap it up in a piece of newspaper and it is for all intents an purposes, is non-radioactive !
” Thorium-232 is considered to be a carcinogen only IF ADMINISTERED INTRAVENOUSLY AS A COLLOIDAL DISPERSION OF THORIUM-232 DIOXIDE.”
It is not considered to be a cancer causing substance if taken orally or inhaled according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer IARC, just like silica (sand) which is not carcinogenic if ingested.
Anti-Lynas quote ” The USA has closed most of its mines, and so has China. In inner Mongolia, vast tracts of lands and thousands of square kilometres have been rendered hazardous, with toxic runoffs destroying everything in their path, and with high radioactivity, tainting and polluting precious water supplies.” Unquote
I HAVE TO KEEP REPEATING THAT KUANTAN PEOPLE ARE NOT MINERS IN THE RARE EARTH OR URANIUM OR THORIUM MINES.
The ” with toxic runoffs destroying everything in their path, and with high radioactivity, tainting and polluting precious water supplies.”,
ARE FROM THE MINES AND NOT FROM THE MODERN REFINING CHEMICAL PLANTS!
PLEASE DO NOT KEEP ON INSULTING US IN KUANTAN AND COMPARING US TO “THE WORKERS IN THE MINES EXPOSED TO THORIUM BY INHALATION OF FINE PARTICLES !
” Thorium-232 is considered to be a carcinogen only IF ADMINISTERED INTRAVENOUSLY AS A COLLOIDAL DISPERSION OF THORIUM-232 DIOXIDE.”
AND NOBODY FROM LYNAS IS GOING AROUND IN KUANTAN INJECTING US WITH THORIUM DIOXIDE !!
I REPEAT: KUANTAN PEOPLE ARE NOT RARE EARTH OR THORIUM MINERS !
The rare earth miners in the case of the Lynas Rare Earth Plant are still in a place called Mount Weld in Western Australia !
If there is any long term lung problem, the Australians are the ones who will be getting those problems and not the Kuantan people.
Kuantan people are just ordinary traders, office workers, taxi drivers or just hanging around doing nothing in the air-conditioned malls.
It is tantamount to claiming that since workers in the granite quarries and underground tin mines developed severe lung disease (silicosis) and lung cancer from inhaling dust containing silica (sand), the millions of tons of sand in our beaches should be relocated to somewhere safe or shipped back to…?Australia.
Definite evidence that crystalline silica (Sand, Sio2) is associated with an increased rate of lung cancer led the International Agency for Research on
Cancer (IARC) to conclude in 1997 that crystalline silica is a known human
carcinogen.
You can find the data even in Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_IARC_Group_1_carcinogens
Dato’ Dr Looi
Do Not Be Paranoid about Radiation for Radiation is Everywhere. Even Your Wife is Radioactive!
Even our DNA is radioactive as the highly radioactive Carbon-14 which constitute a part of the DNA molecule undergoes beta decay by emission of an electron and an antineutrino and changes into Nitrogen-14.
So even our sacred DNA changes with time as a result of this intrinsic radioactivity.
The potassium tablets that your doctor gives you as an adjunct for high blood pressure is highly radioactive with a radioactivity of 32 Bq/gm and we need about 2 to 3 grams of potassium per day to stay alive.
The radioactivity comes from potassium-40. This is more than 500% the radioactivity of the Lynas waste which contains only 6 Bq/gm mainly from Thorium-232.
Potassium when taken stays in the intracellular space where the cancer sensitive chromosomes are located whereas the ingested or inhaled Thorium-232 remains in the extracellular (outside the cell) space.
All the potassium that we eat everyday in our food contains potassium-40 and the normal dietary potassium would give a total of about 80 Bq per day.
Compare this with the Lynas waste which produces only 6 Bq/gm
Even your wife or husband is radioactive, with a radioactivity of 4,000 Bq from Potassium-40 and another 3,000 Bq from Carbon-14 giving a total of about 7,000 Bq!
Since all living cells contain potassium, all types of meat, flesh, fruits, nuts and vegetables are radioactive because of the potassium-40 content.
The so-called sodium free salt recommended by health experts to combat high blood pressure is nothing more than just highly radioactive potassium salt! Even a lot of doctors, specialists and professors do not know this!
A miner for Potassium chloride (16.4 Bq/G) would only need to be near the big pile of the mine for about 7 hours to exceed the public dose limit of 1 mSv.
This exposure level is same dose of radiation as working 6 months in LAMP or living 500 years near it.
The message here is that more radioactive substances are freely sold in the shops and used as a fertilizer or eaten by us than you would otherwise thought.
Guarapari which has a population about 100,000 is a coastal town in Brazil.
Every year, many people visit the beach with black sand in this town for swimming and treatment of rheumatic disorders.
The usual beach sand in Guarapari has a radiation dose of 5 microsievert/hour.
The black sand is even higher with 131 microsievert/hour. Average radiation exposure of Guarapari is 175 milisievert/year.
The radioactivity is originated from the mountains rich in zirconites and monazites along the coast.
Ramsar is a city in Iran with population of more than 31,000. The average dose of radiation received by people in Ramsar is about 10 milisievert/year, and can reach level in exceed of 260 milisievert/year.
Most of the radiation in the area is due to dissolved Radium-226 in water of 9 hot springs along with smaller amounts of uranium and thorium due to travertine (limestone) deposits.
Kerala, a coastal belt in India. A study conducted in 1990 covered 76,000 households in 12 local councils of Karunagapally.
The radiation at Karunagapally has been assessed at 5 to 8 milisievert/year. In certain location on the coast, it is as high as 70 milisievert/year. Thorium was mined in this area from monazites.
Quote from Wikipepedia: “This high level of radiation does not seem to have caused ill effects on the residents of the area and even possibly has made them slightly more radioresistant, which is puzzling and has been called “radiation paradox”. It has also been reported that residents have healthier and longer lives.
On the basis of this and other evidence including the fact that life had originated in a much more irradiated environment, some scientists have questioned the validity of linear no-threshold model, on which all radiation regulations currently depend.[17]
Others point out that some level of radiation might actually be good for health and have a positive effect on population based on the controversial radiation hormesis model, by jump starting DNA repair mechanisms inside the cell.[1″
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB.,ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London)
New Rare earth plants
1. Arafura di Whayalla Australia
2. Great Western Minerals di Steenkampskraal South Afrika
3. Avalon Rare Metal di Thor Lake Canada
4. Alkane di Dubbo New South Wales Australia
5. Molycorp Inc. in Mountain Pass, California, USA
In the past the rare earth plants in America were closed for the same reason why any mine or company close down…it had become uneconomical i.e. losing money!
This was because at that time China was selling rare earth elements at a ridiculously low price and nobody could compete with them.
Feb 22, 2012 :
Molycorp Inc. said it will start up a newly constructed rare earths processing plant at its Mountain Pass, Calif., operation this week.
Crushing and cracking operations as well as the facility’s combined heat and power plant are scheduled to come online this week, while other components—including milling and mineral extraction, rare earth oxide…
Australians building Giant Rare Earth Plant in Australia:
It should also be noted that Australians are delighted that a company called Arafura is building a huge Rare Earth Processing Plant costing over A$1 Billion in Whyalla in South Australia.
This plant is expected to produce over 1,000 high paying jobs for the Australians.
Arafura must be hoping that we are stupid enough to stop Lynas and stop competing with them.
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah.
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London
The Problem: A Mountain of Lynas Waste ?
A reader once asked ” Would it be safe to say 132,000,000,000 bq will be resulting from 22,000 tonnes of Lynas waste even though it has only 6 bq per gm?”
Well, Thorium-232 produces only alpha rays (gamma rays from daughter isotopes are insignificant, please see below) which cannot pass through even a thin piece of paper or the surface of the skin.
If you have a lump of pure Thorium-232, all you need to do is to wrap it up in newspaper and that will stop all the alpha radiation from getting out!
Since alpha particles of Thorium-232 which decay with energies of 3.8 to about 4.8 MeV can travel only a couple of centimetres in air, only less than 50 micron in fluids and much less in solid material, even if you have a huge pile of Lynas waste, the external radiation would not increase by much because only a tiny percentage of thorium-232 atoms directly on the surface of the pile will be able to radiate out their alpha particles.
Those just below the surface will remain inside the pile. Each alpha particle will just pick up 2 electrons and be converted to the simple non-radioactive helium gas.
Even those apha particles from the surface will be converted to harmless helium gas after a few centimetres through the air.
So all that your mountain of Lynas waste will only “radiate” harmless non-radioactive Helium gas.
The radiation of 6 bq/gm from the weakly radioactive Thorium-232 in the Lynas waste is so low that even IAEA do not consider it significant and as such can be transported without any special permission.
One reader stated that although Thorium-232 may not be dangerous, all their “daughter” isotopes have very short half-lives like Radon-220 and these are highly radioactive, so how could we say that Thorium-232 is not dangerous.
Well, the reason is obvious. But I find great difficulty in explaining to the layman the reason why when an element with an extremely long half-life that decays into isotopes with very short half-life, there is minimal accumulation of the short half-life isotopes and as such do not build up into a large enough quantity to pose any significant hazard.
I will try to explain by this simple analogy.
If there are 2 million people waiting outside a stadium and 1 million people managed to get into the stadium after 14,000,000,000 years (half-life of Thorium-232), it means that you will see only 1 person getting into the stadium every 14,000 years.
But once in the stadium the half-life of the new person (half-life of Radon-220 from the Thorium-232 decay chain is only 55 seconds) is so short when compared with those outside (Thorium-232) that he has left the stadium almost immediately. Getting in is extremely slow but getting out is extremely fast!
Since only 1 person gets into the stadium every 14,000 years, if you look into the stadium you will see it as empty most of the time!
It is just like trying to fill up a bucket by a slow, slow drop by drop drip and the bucket has a big hole at the bottom. If you look into the bucket you will see practically little or no water in it!
Since the Lynas waste product has only 6 Bq/gm of radioactivity, the chance of detecting any significant amount of radon gas is pretty slim indeed.
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB.,ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London)
Quote: From Anti-Lynas ” If you have so much confidence of its safety. Move your house and your family next to LYNAS.”
At present I live in a bungalow with 2 acres of free-hold land about 15 miles from the Lynas Rare Earth Plant. This land and house was bought with money earned by my own sweat and tears.
So if anyone is good enough (or rather stupid enough) to buy for me and pay for me 2 acres of free-hold land just next to the Lynas Plant and build for me a bungalow of my own design,
I will be most willing to move myself and all my family to live next to the Lynas plant.
AND DON’T FORGET TO BUY AND PAY FOR ME 100,000 KILOGRAMS OF PURE THORIUM-232 AS WELL!
I WILL BE ETERNALLY GRATEFUL TO THAT SOMEONE.
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB.,ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK
Lynas Rare Earth Plant Contribute Significantly to our Country and Local Economies
Even a primary school child should know that the construction of a multi-billion dollar industrial plant would bring enormous financial benefits to the local community as well as to the country.
Construction of the plant had provided a substantial boost to suppliers of commodities like concrete and steel and manufacturers of hundreds of other components. For example, the plant had used thousands of cubic metres of concrete—as well as
• Thousands of tons of steel and miles of piping
• Hundreds of miles of electric wiring and hundreds of electrical components and all these are supplied by our local contractors.
The construction of the plant itself would had added hundreds of millions to the gross domestic product.
Each year, the plant will generate billions in sales of the rare earth (economic output) and millions more in total labor income. These figures include both direct and secondary effects. The direct effects reflect the plant’s expenditures for goods, services and labor. The secondary effects include subsequent spending attributable to the presence of the plant and its employees as plant expenditures filter through the local economy (e.g., restaurants and shops buying goods and hiring employees).
And the subsequent production of the plant is expected to be in the billions of ringgit and this is considered to be part of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Billions more would be added to the GDP as a result of the spin-off effect.
And when our GDP is increased by the billions, the government will be allowed to print more billions of ringgit to pay for the schools, hospitals, subsidies and scholarships etc for the people, without any devaluation of our ringgit by the foreigners.
Key Facts
• Each year, the plant will generate millions to billions of ringgit as a spin-off effect in sales of goods and services in the local community and millions more in total labor income.
• Operation of the plant creates more than 350 highly paid permanent jobs. These jobs pay much more than those working the super markets or places like Kentucky Fried Chicken.
• The permanent jobs at the plant create an equivalent number of additional jobs in the local area to provide the goods and services necessary to support the the plant work force (e.g., grocery stores, dry cleaners, car dealers). Even the sex workers in Kuantan would benefit!
• Construction of the new plant had created up to thousands of jobs at peak construction.
•
• Local contracters had benefitted enormously from the construction of the plant, in terms of hundreds of millions of ringgit
•
• The yearly production of billions of ringgit of rare earth will add billions to our GDP and produce billions in export earnings (even though the money belongs to Lynas share holders, the national statistics will show up as our own in terms of GDP growth and export growth).
In Other Words,The Plant WILL Boost Local and Country’s Economy.
The Lynas plant WILL provide substantial economic benefits during the decades of operation. The jobs, employee’s taxes, and direct and secondary spending WILL strengthen the economy.
SO DO NOT ASK THE NON-PHYSICAL and RATHER CHILDISH QUESTION OF WHAT BENEFIT DO MALAYSIA GET FROM THE LYNAS PLANT!
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB.,ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK
Response to the Hon. Prof Chan’s Letter in Malaysia Political Podium and Insider.
1. When Potassium is taken into the body it is not just concentrated in the muscles but concentrated in the INTRACELLULAR spaces of ALL CELLS where the cancer sensitive chromosomes are located!
So to say that Potassium concentration is less in the radiosensitive cells of the blood, lymphoid tissues, testis, ovaries and intestine is definitely not in line with basic human physiology.
It is concentrated and equally distributed in ALL INTRACELLULAR SPACES . In terms of per cell mass, it may be slightly less only in fat cells.
Intracellular Potassium = 139 to 140 mEq
Extracellular Potassium = 4 mEq which is tiny compared with the Intracellular Potassium.
Thorium-232 stays mainly in the extracellular space where it is not so harmful.
2. The data quoted by the Hon. Professor Chan must be pretty old as it still use “Curie”. This unit is now practically obsolete and used only occasionally in the USA. We now use Sievert.
Anyway, curie is a measure of activity of the atoms and not the biological effects and as such CANNOT be used as a measure in a biological system as complex as the human body and on a subject that is even more complex as the causation of cancer.
3. To mention that the lifetime risk of cancer mortality per pCurie is higher in inhaled thorium-232 when compared with that of INHALED potassium is a real JOKE!
WHO WOULD GO ROUND INHALING POTASSIUM !
And it is not easy to find the heavier than lead Thorium-232 particles in the air for someone to inhale, even when near to a chemical plant like the Lynas Rare Earth Plant. You would be able to find the correct sized particles of about 1 to 2 microns in the Uranium or Thorium mines or Thorium refining plants or where there is combustion.
It sounds very impressive indeed to say that the lifetime cancer mortality risk for inhaled Thorium-232 is 200 times that of inhaled Potassium-40.
But we must know how these mortality coefficients are being calculated. For example in the case of Potassium-40:
To estimate a lifetime cancer
mortality risk, if it is assumed that 100,000 people
were continuously exposed to a thick layer of soil
with an initial average concentration of 1 pCi/g
potassium-40, then 4 of these 100,000 people
would be predicted to incur a fatal cancer over
their lifetime.
Why not 40, or 80, or 800 or 8,000 or 80,000 of these 100,000 people would be predicted to incur a fatal cancer over their lifetime!
Any good mathematician would tell you that when an assumption is put into a mathematical equation, the result would be just RUBBISH!
The radiation of 6 Bq/gm from the weakly radioactive Thorium-232 in the Lynas waste is so low that even IAEA do not consider it significant and as such can be transported without any special permission.
Moreover, Thorium-232 is not a Carcinogen (cancer causing agent) if Inhaled or Ingested according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer IARC.
Thorium-232 is considered to be a carcinogen only IF ADMINISTERED INTRAVENOUSLY AS A COLLOIDAL DISPERSION OF THORIUM-232 DIOXIDE.
It was claimed that a 20 year study in one of the largest rare earth mine, the Bayun Obo mine has shown that inhalation Thorium has proven to cause lung cancer. The number of miners in 2001 were 6,983 of which 3016 were exposed to dense dust in the mine.
After correcting for the heavy smoking, there was an excess of 10 cases of lung cancer in workers who had worked for about 30 years or so in the mine.
But this study cannot exclude crystalline silica (SiO2) in the dust as being the cause of the lung cancers. Silica is a confirmed carcinogen while Thorium by inhalation or ingestion is not.
AND MOREOVER, KUANTAN PEOPLE ARE NOT RARE EARTH OR THORIUM MINERS!
The rare earth miners in the case of the Lynas Rare Earth Plant are still in a place called Mount Weld in Western Australia!
If there is any long term lung problem, the Australians are the ones who will be getting those problems and not the Kuantan people.
Kuantan people are just ordinary traders, office workers, taxi drivers or just hanging around doing nothing in the air-conditioned malls.
It is tantamount to claiming that since workers in the granite quarries and underground tin mines developed severe lung disease (silicosis) and lung cancer from inhaling dust containing silica (sand), the millions of tons of sand in our beaches should be relocated to somewhere safe or shipped back to…?Australia.
Definite evidence that crystalline silica (Sand, Sio2) is associated with an increased rate of lung cancer led the International Agency for Research on
Cancer (IARC) to conclude in 1997 that crystalline silica is a known human
carcinogen.
There is also a fear that the waste will be dumped all over the place. Unfortunately, this risk also apply to all our factories and plants. Should we demand that all our factories and plants to be closed down so that we can go back to the good old days of tapping rubber and plucking coconut for the BIG WHITE MAN?
con’t
con’t
In his article the Hon. Professor have conveniently excluded the following and that may distort the true picture.
1) The British study (COMARE) published in 2010 clearly showed that there is no increase in the number of leukaemia cases in young children living near nuclear power plants.
This study which covers a period of over 35 years is far more comprehensive than the French study which covers only a period of 5 years.
The research, conducted by scientists on the Committee of the Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE), found only 20 cases of childhood leukaemia within 5 km (3.1 miles) of nuclear power stations between 1969 and 2004.
The rate was virtually the same as in areas where there were no nuclear plants.
A study on Germany, published in 2007, did find a significantly increased risk, but the COMARE team said these findings were probably influenced by an unexplained leukaemia cluster near a nuclear plant in Krummel, north Germany, that lasted from 1990 to 2005.
Excluding Krummel, evidence for an increased leukaemia risk among young children living close to German nuclear power plants was “extremely weak”, it said.
The French study found that between 2002 and 2007 (only 5 years), 14 children under the age of 15 living in a 5-kilometre radius of France’s 19 nuclear power plants had been diagnosed with leukaemia.
This number of cases (14 in 5 years) are so small that even a small unaccounted unknown factor would lead to a false statistical result.
2) Nuclear plants are so well shielded that there is no increase in the radiation level outside the plant.
The only type of “radiation” which cannot be shielded are the neutrinos which are created in great numbers in the nuclear reactors. But we must remember that Trillions upon Trillions of neutrinos from the sun and other sources pass through our bodies every second !
3) The Lynas plant is not a nuclear power plant and trying to compare findings from an nuclear plant to that of an ordinary chemical plant is like trying to compare an elephant with a caterpillar !
4) To imply that there is no safe level of radiation is like saying that there is no safe level of bacteria and other micro-organisms in the human body…. without realising that 90% of the living cells in the human body are micro-organisms. And without these micro-organisms we would not be able to stay healthy for long.
There is now more and more evidence to suggest that we need a certain amount of radiation to stimulate our immune system in order to stay healthy.
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London)
Quoted from Ng Ai Soo response to the Hon. Prof. Chan Chee Khoon’s article in the Malaysian Political Podium and Insider:
Quoted from Ng Ai Soo’s response to the Hon. Prof. Chan Chee Khoon’s Article.
“The inverse square law applies to trillions and trillions of particles, not just the one particle. That one particle IS the radiation only “dilutes” in a quantum sense… it otherwise remains one particle no matter how far it is from the source… so the cellular damage by that one particle is the same, no matter how far it travelled to get into the cell. But it must survive that journey into the cell and for different particles the survival rates are different.
The “precautionary principle” has to be used judiciously… overuse can lead to awkward situations. For example, the other day a football player collapsed and very nearly died mid-game, therefore nobody should play football… never mind rugby! More than a million people die on the roads worldwide each year, therefore nobody should use roads… to say nothing about air travel. The use of coal results in fatalities not only in mining, but also due to emissions… therefore we should not use coal. So where do you draw the line.
The methods used to get such high damage estimates from radiation, if applied to other sources, can also lead to silly results. For example, if applied to air travel (high altitude leads to higher radiation) such methods will give hundreds, if not, thousands of casualties. As pointed out by Dr. Looi, people have lived very healthy lives for many, many generations in Ramsar despite (or because of?!) a background of more that 100mSv/yr… likewise in Kerala where the background exceeds 50mSv/yr… apply the extreme methods to these people and you will find thousands of expected radiation casualties over the millennia, not to say mutations and such… but the people have been and are all healthy if not better than average.
Nuclear power stations cannot be constructed in Cornwall because the natural background radiation is about 8mSv/yr. Why are there no cancer clusters there? You put it best when you say “excess childhood leukaemia near nuclear power plants that can’t be explained by radiation exposures which are much below the “safe thresholds””… that is, they are not caused by radiation exposure from the nuclear power stations. In fact such clusters occur in other places as well, nowhere near nuclear power stations, and in one case, a cluster was found at a site at which a nuclear power station was planned but not yet built!
Of course what happened at Cerrie is well known (see http://iopscience.iop.org/0952-4746/24/4/E02/pdf/jr44e1.pdf , http://www.cerrie.org/ and http://www.comare.org.uk which advises the UK government) and is due to two members, one of whom is Christopher Busby who, it seems, sells radiation protection kits to Fukushima survivors (see http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/nov/21/christopher-busby-radiation-pills-fukushima and http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/georgemonbiot/2011/nov/22/christopher-busby-nuclear-green-party ). Busby is very political and even ran for office. Please advise all that protection has to be sought for exposure to Busby emissions, if nothing else, from his reported profanity.
And what about other pollution and/or radiation sources in the environment before Lynas even starts. For example, a 1,000MW coal plant after just 1 year of operation produces 6,000,000 tons of CO2, 44,000 tons of SO2, 22,000 tons of NO2, 320,000 tons of ash containing 400 tons of heavy metals (arsenic, mercury, cadmium, lead etc.) and, here’s the kicker, including 5 tons or Uranium and 12 tons of Thorium from which the radon gas of both decay chains are out the chimney and into our air… and we are building TWO of these now to add to those we already have on the peninsula. Where do we store this waste? Does this waste go into making our roads or construction material? What is Lynas waste in comparison?! How did we manage to put up with that yearly radioactive and toxic waste, and plan to build more of the same, with no objection from you?
Be fair… if you want to protect us from industrial radiation pollution, then tackle the whole lot of them in proportion to their pollution, not just Lynas. Dr. Looi’s presentation of the facts is clear and persuasive compared with the unnecessary fear, uncertainty and doubt that taints your article.”
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London)
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http://kickdefella.net/2012/04/17/lynas-negligible-radiation-but-only-toxic-chemical-waste/#more-5242
http://kickdefella.net/2012/04/16/rare-earth-a-richer-malaysia-and-a-greener-world/#comment-76493
The Hon Prof. Chan Chee Khoon:
Quote from the Hon. Professor “…childhood leukaemias observed among the children of Bukit Merah? (Recall also the inverse square law — the intensity of radiation from a radioactive particle a metre away from a human body increases a trillion-fold when that same particle sits at micron-level distances on the body’s cells and tissues.)
Reply by Ng Ai Soo
“The inverse square law applies to trillions and trillions of particles, not just the one particle. That one particle IS the radiation only “dilutes” in a quantum sense… it otherwise remains one particle no matter how far it is from the source… so the cellular damage by that one particle is the same, no matter how far it travelled to get into the cell. But it must survive that journey into the cell and for different particles the survival rates are different.
The Hon. Prof. Chan Chee Khoon
A quick response to Ng Ai Soo (?): I’m referring to macroscopic radioactive particles (e.g. thorium-containing dusts), not to a radioactive atomic nucleus nor sub-atomic particles.
Comment by Me.
1. In addition to the clarification by Ng Ai Soo of the inappropriateness in invoking the inverse square law to just one particle, if we assume that the intensity is increased by a trillion fold, an alpha particle from Thorium-232 with an energy of 4 MeV is magnified by a factor of 1 trillion, the energy would be 0.64 Joules and this is so “intense” that all the cells that are hit, will be vaporized. We know that DEAD cells do not and cannot turn into cancer cells!
2. Even if we are referring to thorium-containing dusts in Bukit Merah and “not to a radioactive atomic nucleus nor sub-atomic particles,”
it would not work either because at 1 metre away, alpha particles from the Thorium-232 can travel about a couple of centimetres, and since the cells are subjected to an intensity of radiation at 1 metre = 0 units.
Therefore at micron level, 0 multiplied by 1 Trillion is still = 0 units
This shows that if we use retrograde calculations in these situations, we can end up with some rather embarrassing results.
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London)
Quoted: Jonathan Fun Response to Hon. Prof Chan in Insider
“I read with great interest the debate and evidences shown by both sides.
While acknowledging Prof. Chan’s arguments, doubts, concerns, and counter-evidences on the effects of Thorium, I must agree with Datuk Dr. Looi and Ng Ai Soo’s points in what I’d like to call “Selective Rejection”.
We all know the effects of Thorium to our health through the inhalation route; microscopic thorium dusts entering our bloodstream, majority of those amounts will be deposited in our bone marrows and stays there for the next 22 years, emitting alpha radiation, increasing risks to cancer, etc.
But again, consider Ng Ai Soo’s comment from Chan’s previous article :
” And what about other pollution and/or radiation sources in the environment before Lynas even starts. For example, a 1,000MW coal plant after just 1 year of operation produces 6,000,000 tons of CO2, 44,000 tons of SO2, 22,000 tons of NO2, 320,000 tons of ash containing 400 tons of heavy metals (arsenic, mercury, cadmium, lead etc.)
And, here’s the kicker, including 5 tons or Uranium and 12 tons of Thorium from which the radon gas of both decay chains are out the chimney and into our air… and we are building TWO of these now to add to those we already have on the peninsula.
Where do we store this waste? Does this waste go into making our roads or construction material? What is Lynas waste in comparison?! How did we manage to put up with that yearly radioactive and toxic waste, and plan to build more of the same, with no objection from you?
Be fair… if you want to protect us from industrial radiation pollution, then tackle the whole lot of them in proportion to their pollution, not just Lynas. Dr. Looi’s presentation of the facts is clear and persuasive compared with the unnecessary fear, uncertainty and doubt that taints your article in reply to him. ”
The keyword here IMHO is “Uncertainty”, which brings us back to the discussion of the “Precautionary Principle”.
There is nothing wrong being doubtful of the effects of Thorium, hence rejecting it, and there is nothing wrong being confident that Thorium wastes that will be produced by Lynas if they are given the green light to operate, are going to be safe, given the scientific facts that proves it.
But what I’d like to implore those hardcore Anti-Lynas/Anti-Rare Earth/Anti-Whatever friends out there to understand, is that when we make a stand, it must be based on a principle, and for the stand to be credible and fair, it must be applied across the board.
So we know iron/copper mines also produces not just Thorium, but Radium and Uranium wastes too.
And we know rock phosphate fertilizer production facilities also produces not just Thorium, but Radium and Uranium wastes too.
Hence, if the reason we are all so head over heals about throwing Lynas out of our shores is because of the potential hazards of Thorium, or the uncertainty that Thorium will be safe, then let our will be done. Reject Lynas. Get them out of the country. Shoo.
But we can’t let existing industries which are also producing Thorium wastes, like iron/copper mines and fertilizer plants, to continue operating as well. Reject any industry that produces Thorium wastes. Get them out of the country. Shoo.
Can we all agree on this stand? Else going all out to reject Lynas while allowing existing industries that also produces Thorium wastes to continue operation is just plain hypocritical.”
Dato’ Dr Looi
Dear Syed,
Please have a look at this latest information:
By Ronneres Law
Just for your information, work is progressing steadily on planning and design for Arafura Resources’ proposed $1billion Rare Earths Complex in Whyalla. This Rare Earths Complex which is also the processing plant, is situated six kilometres north of the City of Whyalla. As you can see, this plant is located much closer to the main Whyalla’s housing community than Lynas (LAMP) to the Kuantan housing community. LAMP is 20 km away from Kuantan while Arafura plant is only 6 km away. If some Kuantan residents consider 20 km literally as “backyard” then what is 6 km, “Living room”?
To prove this to you here is a link to the information from Arafura.
———–
http://www.arafuraresources.com.au/images/media/files/ArafuraBoardUnveilSign.pdf
———–
The next queston you may ask is when will Arafura build this plant? If I am not mistaken its sometime in January 2013.
I have also attached a video of a Demo plant tours compiled by Arafura. Although this video is not related to Lynas but it may give you an idea of what LAMP might be like. Lynas might have better technology than Arafura, I am not sure but the basic should not be a lot of difference.
I actually got this video from the Arafura website “http://www.arafuraresources.com.au/news.html”. I thought it might a good idea for me to upload the entire video to youtube so that everyone can watch without downloading it first. Check it out.
Dato’ Dr Looi
Which is more radioactive, Potassium-40 or Thorium-232?
Recently one professor and one nuclear scientist claimed that potassium-40 is far LESS radioactive than Thorium-232 and they cited the EPA (environment protection agency of American) and the WHO UNSCEAR as proof of their statements!
One of my friends who stated that K-40 is about 62 times more radioactive than Thorium-232 was rubbished by the nuclear scientist!
Well, that depends on what we are talking about.
Quote ” It was written somewhere above that potassium-40 is 62 times more radioactive than thorium. That is, I am sorry to note, a complete and utter rubbish:”
Unquote.
1. I think what my friend was thinking about is radioactivity in terms of Bq i.e. activity rather than biological effect (Sv) when he said potassium-40 is 62 times more radioactive than Thorium-232.
Pure Potassium-40 = 254,000 Bq/gram
Pure Thorium-232 = 4,080 Bq/gram
Therefore potassium-40 has about 62X more Bq than Thorium-232
Even in terms of biological effect, 1 gram of pure potassium-40 will still have a greater biological effect when compared with 1 gram of pure Thorium-232.
****************
Pure Potassium-40 = 254,000 Bq/gram
Quote from nuclear scientist: 1 Becquerel per gram of K-40 in the soil (should actually be 1 Bq of K-40 per gram of soil) results in an increase in gamma-levels by ~0.042 microSieverts per hour (WHO UNSCEAR). Unquote
Therefore 254,000 Bq = 10,668 microSieverts/hour
(from 1 gram of pure potassium-40 i.e. not mixed with K-39 and K-41)
****************
Pure Thorium-232 = 4,080 Bq/gram
Quote from nuclear scientist: Each becquerel per gram of Th-232 (should actually be 1 Bq of K-40 per gram of soil) increases this level by ~0.604 microSv/hour.
Therefore 4,080 Bq = 2,464 microSieverts/hour
*************************
10,668 microSv/hr divided by 2,464 microSv/hr = 4.33
or the biological effect of radiation from pure Potassium-40 is actually 4.33 times more than that of pure Thorium-232.
2. If we are talking about 1 gram of naturally occurring Potassium which contains only 0.0118% of K-40, then it is perfectly correct to say that Thorium-232 is more radioactive biologically than Potassium as the naturally occurring potassium has only 32 Bq per gram as compared to K-40 which has 254,000 Bq per gram.
So 32 Bq of K = 1.344 microSieverts/hr while 4080 Bq of Thorium-232 = 2,464 microSieverts/hr which is far more biologically radioactive than Potassium.
3. If we compare radioactivity in terms of becquerel (number of atoms decaying per second), 1 Bq of course is equal to 1 Bq in terms of activity.
But in terms of PER Bq (radioactivity from only one nuclear decay) the biological effect, according to UNSCEAR, Potassium-40 and natural potassium is less radioactive biologically than Thorium-232 (but remember that 1 gm potassium-40 has 254,000 atomic decay per sec while 1 gm of Thorium-232 has only 4.080 atomic decay per second ).
SO, BEFORE YOU RUBBISH ANYONE FOR SAYING THAT POTASSIUM-4O IS MORE RADIOACTIVE THAN THORIUM-232 OR VICE VERSA, MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT.
It all depends on whether you are comparing activity (Bq) or biological effect (Sv), whether you are taking about pure potassium-40 or natural potassium which is composed of only 0.0118% highly radioactive K-40 and whether you are comparing Bq per gram of potassium-40 or Bq per gram of soil.
Moreover, we have to state that the Thorium-232 is not that of pure Thorium-232 as freshly isolated pure Thorium-232 do not produce any gamma rays and as such has practically no external biological effect (the 0.09 MeV of gamma rays in freshly isolated Thorium-232 actually comes from Radium-228).
The same arguments apply to the comparison of the cancer coefficients of potassium-40 and Thorium-232.
In fact the nuclear scientist had to apologise to me and agree that it all depends on what we are trying to compare with.
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
Thorium-232 may not be dangerous as negligible amounts are absorbed from the gut and insignificant amount is inhaled by non-miners, but what about the dangerous accumulation of Radon gas?
Thorium-232 produces only alpha rays (gamma rays from daughter isotopes are insignificant) which cannot pass through even a thin piece of paper or the surface of the skin.
The 0.09 MeV gamma ray detected in freshly separated Thorium-232 actually comes from Radium-228, one of the daughter radionuclides from the Thorium-232 decay.
If you have a lump of pure Thorium-232, all you need to do is to wrap it up in newspaper and that will stop all the alpha radiation from getting out!
Since alpha radiation cannot go far, even if you have a huge pile of Lynas waste, the external radiation would not increase by much because only the tiny percentage of thorium-232 atoms directly on the surface of the pile will be able to radiate out their alpha particles. Those just below the surface will remain inside the pile and be converted to simple helium gas.
Since this is a case of an element which has an extremely long half life (14 billion years) and all the daughter radionuclides have relatively very short half lives (from microseconds to 6.7 years), at equilibrium, the concentration of the daughter radionuclides is very small.
Because the concentration of Thorium-232 in the Lynas waste is so low, the gamma radiation from the daughter isotopes are relatively low.
As far as radon gas is concerned, it must be remembered that Radon-220 from the decay chain of Thorium-232 has a very short half life of only 55 seconds!
As such only a tiny amount of Radon-220 (a.k.a. Thoron) within a few centimetres of the surface of a huge pile of waste will be able to live long enough to escape from the pile and see the light of day!
A lot of people have mistaken Radon-220 from Thorium-232 decay series with the more notorious Radon-222 which has a much longer half life of 3.8 days. Radon-222 comes from Uranium-238 decay series.
Because of its much longer half life, Radon-222 can and do accumulate in the cellars and poorly ventilated areas of domestic dwellings. Radon-222 is the gas that has been linked to lung cancers in especially non-smokers.
So please do not blame poor Thorium-232. It does not produce any Radon-222 and as such is not guilty of radon induced lung cancers.
The radiation of 6 Bq/gm from the weakly radioactive Thorium-232 in the Lynas waste is so low that even IAEA do not consider it significant and as such can be transported without any special permission.
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London)
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http://kickdefella.net/2012/04/17/lynas-negligible-radiation-but-only-toxic-chemical-waste/#more-5242
ANSWER TO NUCLEAR SCIENTIST WHO CLAIMED THAT IN PLACES WITH HIGH ENVIRONMENTAL RADIATION LIKE RAMSAR, THE INHABITANTS DO NOT SUFFER ANY ILL EFFECT BECAUSE OF ADAPTATION, FOR EXAMPLE THE CASE OF CHERNOBYL RAPID ADAPTATION TAKES PLACE AMONG THE “LIQUIDATORS”.
Quote “the writer has forgotten the glaring fact that those inhabitants in these locations have gone through generations of adaptations “. Unquote
REPLY: This I feel is a gross simplification of the situation. As you should know for a useful mutation to take place under a selective pressure like radiation we need the presence of millions upon millions of reproductive events.
Those individuals without this useful mutation must be selectively eliminated through death or inability to reproduce.
Deaths and infertility have not been a known side effect of the slow, low level radiation seen in Ramsar where the average radiation, though higher then other places, are still way below the lethal level. The average radiation level is only 10 mSv per year, though in some areas it may be as high as 260 mSv/yr.
Humans are not like bacteria or viruses where millions or even billions of individual organisms are involved and where there is a generation change within about 20 minutes or so.
In Ramsar, for instance the population in 2006 is only 31,000.
In terms of useful mutation that can be transmitted to the whole population to materialise, the chance of such a mutation must be incredibly small for such a genetically tiny non-isolated population. Those 31,000 people over the years must have moved freely to and from other parts of Iran.
For a tiny population and where the reproductive cycle is in terms of 20 years or so the number of generations must run into thousands or even more.
Moreover, Ramsar is not an isolated island, but rather part of an easily accessible area of Iran where there are frequent movement of people and genetic material.
As such, for that one incredible rare mutation providing resistance to radiation to be transmitted to whole non-static population is near impossible, especially when that one mutant needs to impregnate and transmit this useful gene to a whole non-static population. He must be a real SUPERMAN!
The example of radiation accident at Chernobyl where 30 people lost their lives as a result of acute radiation syndrome is a rather poor example to explain the development of genetically transmitted radiation tolerance.
The exposure was very acute and at a very high dose, at levels of about 100 mSv over a very short time. These are highly lethal doses and as such should obviously cause a certain number of deaths, just like any other toxin or chemical where not all that are exposed will die and as such we have such a statistical value called LD50.
According to UNSEAR apart from increased thyroid cancers, there is no evidence of a major public health impact attributable to radiation exposure 20 years after the accident. This includes all the “liquidators” (clean-up workers) in the Chernobyl disaster.
Although I must admit that the genetic makeup has a big influence on the severity of the damage, there are many other factors that needs to be considered like the actual dose of radiation, how acute was the dose delivered, the organs involved, the amount of various types of existing chemicals (like iodine) present in the body, the size of the person, the existing health condition etc.
It is tantamount to saying that if a certain number of people are given 150 tablets of panadol at 30 tablets per day for five days a certain number of them will die from liver failure. The genetically tolerant patients will be “selected” by this selection pressure to pass the genes to the now panadol resistant population. This may be a fair argument.
However, if a similar group of people were given 150 tablets of panadol at only 5 tablets per day in divided doses, this is no longer a form of selection pressure as the dosage though high is well below the danger threshold and will not cause any death from liver failure.
The average dose of radiation received by people in Ramsar is about 10 milisievert/year, though in some cases can reach a level in excess of 260 milisievert/year.
This radiation level of 10 mSv/year is like taking 150 tablets of panadol at 5 tablets per day in divided doses. At this low level it is not a significant evolutional selection pressure as it is way below a level which can cause rapid evolutional changes.
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah.
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London).
A reader claimed that the actual casualties from Chernobyl is MUCH higher than what establishment acknowledges and may actually run into the thousands.
My reply:
I am aware of the claims that thousands upon thousands of the liquidators (clean up workers) have died but you must remember that there was a total of well over 700,000 liquidators.
The male life expectancy in Russia in 1999 was only 58 years. The accident happened in 1986 i.e. 26 years ago and so all those who were above 32 years old at that time (58 minus 26 years) have already exceeded their normal life expectancy. The average age of the early liquidators were between 20 and 45 years.
So out of the 700,000 people probably a few hundred thousand must have exceeded their life expectance by now and it is not unexpected to find thousands of these people have died by now from causes other than radiation. An UNSCEAR report places the total confirmed deaths from radiation at 64 as of 2008.
Quote from IAEA: “Emergency workers or “liquidators” were drafted into the area and helped to clean up the plant premises and the surrounding area. These workers, generally men aged 20 to 45, were mostly plant employees, Ukrainian fire-fighters plus many soldiers and miners from Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and other parts of the then Soviet Union.
Within the first three months, the group known as the “Early Liquidators”, those first on the scene including plant workers, construction workers and local fire-fighters, lost 28 members to Acute Radiation Sickness. Another 106 persons were treated for the same disease and survived. Nineteen additional patients died over the eight years following the accident, although these were not necessarily associated with radiation exposure
Some 350,000 people involved in the initial clean-up of the plant in 1986-87 received average total body radiation doses of the order of 100 millisieverts (mSv) – a millisievert is a unit of radiation dose equivalent to about 10 general chest x-rays. This dose is about five times the maximum annual dose limit currently permitted for workers in nuclear facilities (20 mSv per year). Average worldwide natural “background” radiation is about 2.4 mSv annually.” Unquote
What I am trying to say is that it is not valid to use the results of the ACUTE HIGH INTENSITY radiation (100 mSv) of Chernobyl to justify evolutionary changes in the chronic low intensity (about 10 mSv/year) radiation found in places like Ramsay.
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah.
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London).
Quote:
“IF YOUR PLANT IS SO SAFE, IS IT SAFE FOR A PREGNANT LADY TO WORK HERE?”
Unquote
The answer is a big YES!, provided certain precautions are taken…just like even when crossing a road we have to take certain precautions.
To be frank, I would have no objections if any of my family members who are pregnant want to work in the Lynas plant.
In all the hospitals where I have worked in, I have come across many pregnant nurses, radiologists, doctors and other pregnant female staff members who worked in high radiation risk areas of the Radiology and Radiotherapy departments and I have not come across a single problem affecting the pregnancy or the baby that is related to radiation injury.
The biggest danger to the baby is during the first trimester when development is greatest. In the 2nd and 3rd trimester, the danger is the same as that for an adult.
All staff working in the high radiation areas are provided with a radiation dosimeter. And if the dose is exceed, the pregnant lady is relocated to an area where the radiation is much lower.
Standards for radiation protection in the USA are established by the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement (NCRP) and its international counterpart, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). Both of these organizations offer recommendations for the maximum permissible dose (MPD) of radiation to which people should be exposed.
The MPD During Pregnancy by ICRP is 2 mSv while that of the American counterpart NRCP is even higher at 5 mSv.
For flight attendants and pilots, the exposure to radiation are much higher and to date I have not come across any well documented report of any such personnel developing radiation induced malformations or cancers in their babies. There is of course many other reasons why it is not advisable for a flight attendant to continue flying in the 2nd and 3rd trimester of pregnancy. In the presence of an emergency, a pregnant flight attendant would be more of a liability than a help.
In the Lynas plant, I see no reason why a pregnant woman cannot continue working well into the 3rd trimester, if she so wishes.
Dato’ Dr Looi
THORIUM-232, THOROTRAST, AND CANCER
I have known about the controversy of Thorotrast (a 25 cc vail of a 25% colloidal suspension of Thorium dioxide) since I was a medical student in Manchester about 45 years ago and in fact I have been collecting a fair amount of data with regards to this contrast media.
Thorotrast was given as a contrast media via the vein and the dose of Thorium used was huge, though this depends on the type of radiological procedure done.
It had been estimated that as many as 4 million people were given this contrast in the 1930 to late 1950s.
It has been claimed that there was an increase in the incidence of cancers especially of the liver.
However, we need to consider a number of factors before we can be sure that this is the real culprit.
1) The radiation dose from those old X-ray machines in the 1930 to 1950s are hundreds of times that of the present machines.
For instance an 1896 X-ray machine was tested and found to have exposed the body to 1,500 times more radiation than modern technology does, largely because each image took 90 minutes to develop, dramatically increasing the patient’s cumulative exposure to the rays. By 1930 to 1950s, the radiation dose have improved a lot but still much higher than the present X-ray machines.
Modern day X-rays require only about 21 milliseconds, and technicians place lead coverings over the body to protect vital organs from even this slight exposure.
When we do a contrast study we do not take just one X-ray, but many, sometimes more than 20 to 50.
So the patients who received the Thorotrast were subjected to a huge dose of X-rays from these antique X-ray machines.
This huge dose of X-rays may be the cause of most of the cancers, we just do not know as most of the studies are unable to assess the X-ray’s dose. All these studies are done 20 to 30 years later.
So we cannot use other patients who have X-rays done in the 1930s to 1950s as a control group since most X-rays which do not need a contrast media consist of only 1 or 2 X-ray pictures.
2) The contrast studies are usually done for patients who are rather ill and may have multiple other disorders.
The cancers usually appear (as most cancers do) about 20 to 30 years later when the patients reach the “cancer” age. Because of this long lapse of cause and effect, all the studies are retrospective in nature.
And as you know, all retrospective studies are full of problems and inaccuracies.
3) A lot of these patients, have other disorders which may also lead to cancer like alcoholic cirrhosis and hepatitis B. In fact the first case of liver cancer I saw in Manchester was an old alcoholic with severe liver cirrhosis. But he also had Thorotrast contrast study more than 20 years earlier. Because of this history, the surgeon had to report him as a Thorotrast induced cancer.
4) With about 4 million by now old people, we are bound to come across a lot of cancer cases. So how many if any of these (taking into account all the above problems) are really caused by the radiation from the massive dose of intravenous Thorium-232… nobody can be really sure. If anybody says he can tell, then either he is lying or he does not know what he is saying.
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB.,ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London)
CERRIE Minority Report and European Committee on Radiation Risk (ECRR)
The anti-lynas group (including the good Hon. Professor C.) has often used the CERRIE Minority Report to claim that “There is strong evidence that current models of hazard from radioactivity inside the human body underestimate risks by at least 100 and possibly up to 1,000 times.”
What happened at CERRIE (Committee Examining Radiation Risks of Internal Emitters) is well known (see http://iopscience.iop.org/0952-4746/24/4/E02/pdf/jr44e1.pdf , http://www.cerrie.org/ and
http://www.comare.org.uk which advises the UK government) and is due to two members, one of whom is Christopher Busby who, it seems, sells radiation protection kits to Fukushima survivors
(see http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/nov/21/christopher-busby-radiation-pills-fukushima and
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/georgemonbiot/2011/nov/22/christopher-busby-nuclear-green-party ). Busby is very political and even ran for office.
They also cited that the self-styled European Committee on Radiation Risk (ECRR) which is an informal committee formed in 1997 following a meeting by the European Green Party which claimed that the risk from radioactive internal emitters are at least 100 to 200 times more hazardous than currently believed.
Quote: Nick Tsurikov “The point that I would like to make is to illustrate clearly that ECRR “100-200 times” factors cannot possibly be correct – have a look:
The ‘official’ risk of getting cancer from radiation exposure is 1 in 20,000 per 1 milliSievert of dose. So, if the hazard is ‘understated’ by, say, 200 times – it becomes 1 in 100, per 1 mSv of dose.
Thousands of people in Malaysian amang industry and in heavy mineral sands industry world wide have been exposed to about 5 mSv every year for (let’s say, on average) 6 years of working life, so their cumulative dose was 30 mSv.
Which means that if ECRR is correct – every third worker should be dead from cancer by now…
And what about those who were exposed to about 20 mSv for five years or more (in any industry, uranium included) – in accordance with the ECRR coefficients – the chance is 1 in 1, so they are all dead from cancer by now…
I do not see any cancer epidemic happening… What about all the tin miners in Malaysia in 1950′s-1970′s: they all should’ve died within several years after starting their work (as their coefficient would be close to 5 to 1…) Just some points for general consideration…”
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London)
*
http://kickdefella.net/2012/04/17/lynas-negligible-radiation-but-only-toxic-chemical-waste/#more-5242
Quote:The Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) has warned that the Lynas rare earth processing plant will increase the risk of malignant cancers for those living in the vicinity. Unquote
When we say “MMA says” what we really mean is that ONLY 1 DOCTOR SAYS i.e. THE PRESIDENT OF THE MMA AND NOT ALL THE DOCTORS OR EVEN THE MAJORITY OF THE DOCTORS IN THE MMA because when the president of the MMA says something he did not take a vote of all the doctors or even some of the doctors in the association!
So this is the opinion of just the President of the MMA i.e. just 1 person and not that of ALL the doctors in the association. We have to make this very clear. HE OR SHE DEFINITELY DOES NOT SPEAK FOR ME !
We also have to realize that whenever the head or the president of any group of people says something, there will be people with ulterior motives who, if the statement suits and reinforces their own evil motives, will seize the opportunity to sensationalize the statement.
In the worst case scenario, the radiation risk in the surrounding area will increase by only 0.002 mSv and since the risk of developing cancer is 1 per 20,000 per mSv, the increased risk is 1 in 10,000,000 for people in the Kuantan area.
This chance is as good as striking the FOUR DIGIT LOTTERY 1 THOUSAND TIMES! Let me know if you know of someone who had struck the 4 digit lottery 1,000 times!
But again, consider Ng Ai Soo’s comment:
” And what about other pollution and/or radiation sources in the environment before Lynas even starts. For example, a 1,000MW coal plant after just 1 year of operation produces 6,000,000 tons of CO2, 44,000 tons of SO2, 22,000 tons of NO2, 320,000 tons of ash containing 400 tons of heavy metals (arsenic, mercury, cadmium, lead etc.)
And, here’s the kicker, including 5 tons or Uranium and 12 tons of Thorium from which the radon gas of both decay chains are out the chimney and into our air… and we are building TWO of these now to add to those we already have on the peninsula. ”
“In fact, the fly ash emitted by a power plant—a by-product from burning coal for electricity—carries into the surrounding environment 100 times more radiation than a nuclear power plant producing the same amount of energy.” (Quote from Scientific American)
The risk of getting cancer from just 1 of the many coal fired plants in Malaysia is far, far higher than that of the Lynas plant. Pollution from all our other plants and factories are just as bad.
Why this discrimination against Lynas? Why not have a massive demonstration to call for these power plants and all our factories to be closed down and send all the waste products BACK TO AUSTRALIA, GERMANY, JAPAN, TAIWAN, ENGLAND AND THE USA.
I AN VERY SURE THAT NO SANE INVESTOR WILL COME TO MALAYSIA and we can go back to the good old times of being a 4th word country and SEND OUR DAUGHTERS AND GRAND-DAUGHTERS TO KAMPUCHEA AND MYAMMAR TO WORK AS MAIDS AND DOMESTIC SERVANTS!
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah.
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London).
Quote: “Thorium-232 do not produce any gamma rays, but it’s daughter radionuclides do produce the dangerous penetrating gamma rays” Unquote
Pure freshly separated Thorium-232 has only a slight alpha activity. There is no beta radiation and only a slight amount of gamma radiation (from the 0.09-MeV gamma rays which emanate from Th-228 decay).
However, the activity from the Th-228 side of the chain is quickly re-established. A first equilibrium state is reached in about 36 days (10 half-lives of Ra-224).
Activity then declines, as Th-228 decays faster than it is replenished by decaying Ac-228. About 3 years after separation, the activity is lower than at any other time except just after isolation.
Activity then increases until the second equilibrium state is reached in about 60 years or so.
Thorium-232 with all its daughter radionuclides
Total alpha energy = 36.2 MeV per nuclear decay
Total Gamma energy = 3.40 MeV per nuclear decay
Total Beta energy = 5.95 MeV per nuclear decay
Since the Lynas waste has 6 Bq/gm of activity, 1 KILOGRAM would have 6,000 Bq and that will produce 20,400 MeV of gamma ray energy from all the daughter radionuclides at equilibrium.
20,400 MeV from 1 kg of Lynas waste = 0.0000000007808 calories or 0.000000003268 joules.
This amount of gamma ray energy from 1 KILOGRAM of Lynas waste is not enough to tickle the backside of even a tiny little newborn caterpillar!
The total alpha energy is much larger i.e. 36.2 MeV but since alpha radiation does not pose an external threat and Thorium in clay soil is not absorbed, and since inhalation only affects miners, it is not a problem either for the Kuantan folks. But it may be a problem for those poor Australian miners in Mount Weld in Western Australia.
So, the Australians are the ones getting the wrong side of the deal!
Dust particles can get deep into the lungs only if they are very small i.e. much less than 10 micron. The particles that are less than 5 microns are the ones which can get deep into the alveoli of the lungs. Larger ones are trapped by the mucus in the nose and upper respiratory tract and are coughed out or sneezed out.
Particles of less than 5 microns can only be found in the Thorium and Uranium mines where powerful machines are used or where there is combustion.
Since alpha radiation cannot go far (the 4.0 MeV alpha particle from Thorium-232 decay can travel only 27.8 microns in water), even if you have a huge pile of Lynas waste, the external radiation would not increase by much because only the tiny percentage of thorium-232 atoms directly on the surface of the pile will be able to radiate out their alpha particles.
Those just below the surface will remain inside the pile and be converted to simple helium gas and those on the surface will travel only 2.54 cm into the air, picks up 2 electrons and become the harmless Helium for you to fill up your balloon.
The beta particles which are electrons (electricity = flow of electrons) do not pose an external threat either. There are lots more high voltage electrons on your clothing as static electricity when you stay in a dry air-condition room than from the waste.
Only gamma rays from your mountain of Lynas waste from less than 45 cm deep (depending on the type of soil and the water content) are able to see the light of day, as those deeper than that will be blocked by the layer of soil from getting out. And as shown above the amount of gamma rays are insignificant.
When the mother radionuclide has an extremely long half life and the daughters have very short half life, there is very little accumulation of the short half life daughters.
For instance, I did a quick calculation and found that the concentration of the daughter radionuclides is negligible e.g. there is only 1 atom of Radium 224 for every 1.4 trillion atoms of Thorium-232 at equilibrium (I stand to be corrected).
As far as radon gas is concerned, it must be remembered that Radon-220 from the decay chain of Thorium-232 has a very short half life of only 55 seconds!
As such only a tiny amount of Radon-220 (a.k.a. Thoron) within a few centimetres of the surface of a huge pile of waste will be able to live long enough to escape from the pile and see the light of day!
A lot of people have mistaken Radon-220 from Thorium-232 decay series with the more notorious Radon-222 which has a much longer half life of 3.8 days. Radon-222 comes from Uranium-238 decay series.
Because of its much longer half life, Radon-222 can and do accumulate in the cellars and poorly ventilated areas of domestic dwellings. Radon-222 is the gas that has been linked to lung cancers in especially non-smokers.
So please do not blame poor Thorium-232. It does not produce any Radon-222 and as such is not guilty of radon induced lung cancers.
SO WHAT’S THE BIG RADIATION PROBLEM?
Dr HW Looi
Members of the anti-lynas crowd have been asking some very childish and ridiculous questions (repeatedly parrotted more as a means of cyber harrrasment than for any form of intellectual benefit).
Some of the best examples are:
1. If you think it is so safe why don’t you eat it?
Answer: Since my cooked SH*T IS ALSO SAFE, would YOU like to eat it?
(What I mean is that if something is safe or not radioactive, it does not necessarily mean that you have to eat it!)
This chain question probably started when one of the young, inexperienced politicians asked another to drink drain water and since then this question has been brainlessly parrotted by some of his followers.
2. If you think it is so safe, why don’t you put it in your fridge?
Answer: Since my cooked SH*T IS ALSO SAFE, why don’t YOU put it in YOUR fridge?
3. If you think there is no radioactivity why don’t you live next to the Lynas plant?
Answer (Short answer. If you want a longer answer, please refer to my posts in other blogs):
A pigs farm or even a huge oil palm factory also do not have any significant radioactivity, so why don’t you live next to it?
4. Can you guarentee me that the the Lynas plant is 100% safe
Answer: AND AS FAR AS THE 100% BUSINESS IS CONCERNED, THE ONLY THING IN LIFE WHICH WE CAN BE A 100% SURE OF IS THE CEMETERY AND THE LAVATORY. IF WE HAVE TO GO, WE HAVE TO GO 100%.
5. THE MOTHER OF ALL SILLY QUESTIONS, asked by an accountant in Anti-Lynas crowd.
Do you know the difference between
1 sodium metal in the lab and sodium ion in sea water?
2 iron metal power, iron oxide powder, iron salt ions?
3 lead metal , lead oxide , lead ions of the heavy metal ?
4 thorium metal powder, thorium hydroxide and rare earth waste thorium ions as heavy metallic ions ?
ANSWER:
IF YOU CAN ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS,
I THINK I MIGHT TAKE SOME LSD AND PROCEED TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT YOU ASKED ABOVE.
Do you know the difference between
1 black hair on your head and brown hair in my the toilet?
2 telekom power, purple coffee powder, blue curry powder?
3 coconut husk, coconut roots, coconut leaves of tall Angsana trees?
4 arsenic tetrahydrococonut, arsenic monodurian, and arsenic as rare earth waste thorium non-ionic as heavy metallic non-submersible non-iron ironic nano-ions nonsense?
The list of infantile unintelligent questions goes on and on and on.
All these continuously repeated and parroted non-physical questions and statements will not serve the anti-lynas objective but only characterise the anti-lynas folk as childish, non-thinking ill-informed people with IQs which I would rather not mention!
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London)
An anti-Lynas foot soldier by the name of Jin claimed that Thorium-232 adsorbed by clay can be easily leached out by the natural humic acid as evidenced by this research paper:
http://www.aseanenvironment.info/Abstract/41001316.pdf.
Quote anti-Lynas “quick Google scholar search gave me this research paper, which got my attention: “Evidence for radionuclide transport and mobilization in a shallow, sandy aquifer”. The adsorption of Thorium to clay mentioned by you can be ‘dissolved’ by natural humic/fulvic acid shown by manipulated experiment in real natural environment, and hence, leaching is possible. At least, in theory. Now this is not something I fabricated, it is from a research paper published in a well respected journal.” Unquote.
The paper which is titled: ” Evidence for Radionuclide Transport and Mobilization in a Shallow, Sandy Aquifer”
clearly states “SANDY AQUIFER” and definitely not “CLAY AQUIFER” .
THORIUM-232 IS ADSORBED BY CLAY AND NOT BY SAND.
Even the authors of this research stated unequivocally that “The
source of this increase in radionuclide concentrations must
therefore be the AQUIFER SANDS (see Table 11)
Was humic/fulvic acid injected into clay soil mentioned in any part of the paper?
The answer is an absolute NO! The paper was well researched and well written but was BADLY MISINTERPRETED BY SOMEONE WHO DO NOT HAVE THE INTELLIGENCE AND BASIC KNOWLEDGE TO READ SUCH PAPERS.
I repeat THORIUM-232 IS STRONGLY ADSORBED BY CLAY AND THORIUM-232 IS NOT ADSORBED BY SAND.
For the information of the anti-lynas camp, sand or crystalline silica (SiO2) is also classified by IARC as a group 1 carcinogen i.e. a definite cancer causing substance.
Being so fearful of carcinogens they should stage a huge demonstration to insist that all the sand in our beaches be dug out and sent to Singapore where the people are more intelligent and less ignorant and are more capable of appreciating this carcinogen called SAND!
This well written research paper does not show that Thorium-232 is easily leached by humic acid from clay soil.
What it does show up is the ignorance of certain people who are intransigently, irreversibly and irrevocably ADSORBED to self inflicted IGNORANCE.
A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IN THE HANDS OF THE IGNORANT IS A VERY DANGEROUS THING!
To the anti-Lynas people, do not ask me for reference to any scientific data when the whole lot of you cannot understand and properly analyse even simple scientific papers.
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah.
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London).
The anti-Lynas people who are so paranoid about imported radiation from Australia should have a look at this paper published in the Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences which showed that the level of radiation in areas where tin was mined. The waste or amang contains high levels of Monazite and other minerals which are highly radioactive.
All these old tin mine areas are well populated. Note even Kuala Lumpur is also an ex-tin mining area.
This study was done in Kg Gagah in Perak :
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:CsxxK6PTXGwJ:www.ukm.my/mjas/v12_n2/zaini%2520hamzah.pdf+concentration+of+thorium+in+malaysian+soil&hl=en&gl=my&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESi6dZOSD4j7m0JTW7CTVJRQoPlLPaLvlj0TlmGH81bgfv0iz6olM8A-TDVl5RJ7UThRG8OV7jJm1uj6C2sF2Xz1ip1oJTrPv5P2X7KbAoRXPQj1LTi16cmTfwjL8g6IVJlQCRE-&sig=AHIEtbQN1IoA3JZOvIjgUhbxyO45iKlDcw&pli=1
Quote: ” The level of surface dose varies from one location to another, but there is a critical area which has a significantly high surface dose approaching 30 microSv/hr ” Unquote
30 microSv/hr is about 260 mSv/year or about the same level as the highest recorded area in Ramsar!.
So in the paranoid minds of the anti-Lynas people they should either
1. Dig out all the soil in all the ex-tin mining areas in Malaysia which include the whole of the Kinta Valley and practically the Whole of the state of Selangor and send that to Australia. Or
2. All of them swim to Australia and claim refugee status (Refugees from imagined Radiation Danger).
I do not have any data on the ex-Sungai Lembing Tin mine. This was the world’s largest and deepest underground tin mine and the radiation level must be significantly high especially right inside the mine.
As such the anti-Lynas diehards of Kuantan should also swim to Australia and beg for forgiveness for wrongly “Fukushimizing” the Lynas Plant and hope that they will be accepted as Radiation Refugees!
Dato’ Dr Looi
What is the “safe” level of radiation?
Public dose limits for exposure from uranium mining or nuclear plants are usually set at 1 mSv per year above background.
However, experts including Professor Wade Allison of Oxford University argue that the dose limit can safely be raised to 100 millisieverts, based on current health statistics.
Compare this with the dose of 0.002 millisieverts/year of exposure for people living within 1 km of the Lynas plant in the worst case scenario (estimated by Lynas).
This level of 0.002 mSv/yr is actually grossly overestimated as the low energy gamma rays from the Thorium-232 decay chain (mainly the gamma ray from Thallium-208 decay to stable Lead-208 with an energy of 2.62 MeV) is able to travel less than 300 metres in air.
The radon-220 has a very short half life of only 55 seconds and as such cannot travel far and do not accumulate in confined spaces like the radon-222 from the Uranium decay series.
So the actual radiation dose at a distance greater than 300 metres from the plant is approaching 0 mSv/year !
Comparative Dosages in Biological Effect in mSv.
Dose from natural radiation in the human body: 0.40 mSv per year
Sleeping next to someone for 8 hours 0.02 mSv/yr (10x Lynas worst case)
Sleeping in wooden house = 0.20 mSv/yr (100x Lynas worst case)
Smoking a pack of cigarettes daily 0.20 mSv/yr (100x Lynas worst case)
Slag brick and granite house = up to 2.0 mSv/yr (1,000x Lynas worst case)
Chest X-ray = 0.10 mSv
Medical or dental X-ray 0.39 mSv
CT Scan (Chest) = 10 mSv
CT Fluoroscopy of abdomen and pelvis 6 to 90 mSv (median=31 mSv)
Average individual background radiation dose: 2 mSv per year (1.5 mSv per
year for Australians and 3.0 mSv per year for Americans)
Dose from atmospheric sources (mostly radon): 2 mSv per year
Total average radiation dose for Americans: 6.2 mSv per year
Current average dose limit for nuclear workers: 20 mSv per year
Dose from background radiation in parts of Iran, India and Europe: 50 mSv per year
(Source: UNSCEAR and EPA and IAEA)
All the potassium that we eat everyday in our food contains potassium-40 and the normal dietary potassium would give a total of about 80 Bq per day.
Compare this with the Lynas waste which produces only 6 Bq/gm
Even your wife or husband is radioactive, with a radioactivity of 4,000 Bq from Potassium-40 and another 3,000 Bq from Carbon-14 giving a total of about 7,000 Bq!
Sleeping next to someone (i.e. your wife or husband) for 8 hours a day will lead to an exposure of 0.02 mSv/year (Source: UNSCEAR and EPA).
Since all living cells contain potassium, all types of meat, flesh, fruits, nuts and vegetables are radioactive because of the potassium-40 content.
The so-called sodium free salt recommended by health experts to combat high blood pressure is nothing more than just highly radioactive potassium salt! Even a lot of doctors, specialists and professors do not know this!
The message here is that more radioactive substances are freely sold in the shops and used as a fertilizer or eaten by us than you would otherwise thought.
Dr. Gary H. Kramer, who is the Head of the National Internal Radiation Assessment Section at Health Canada:
“Potassium chloride can be found in large quantities in stores selling materials for water treatment. The potassium content is about 500 g kg-
Typically, the material is sold in 20 kg bags so each bag contains ~600 kBq of 40K giving a concentration of 30 Bq g-1. This is well above the exclusion level yet the material is handled as non-radioactive. The external dose rate in close proximity to a typical display in these types of shops would be about 150 microSv hr-1.
A worker would only need to be near the pile for about 7 hours to exceed the public dose limit of 1 mSv.”
Quote: Nick Tsurikov, radiation safety expert:
” In most countries, the current maximum permissible dose to radiation workers is 20 mSv per year averaged over five years, with a maximum of 50 mSv in any one year.
This is over and above background exposure, and excludes medical exposure. The value originates from the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), and is coupled with the requirement to keep exposure as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) — taking into account social and economic factors.” Unquote.
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah.
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London).
Quote: AELB (Atomic Energy Licensing Board, Malaysia):
Malaysia was the world’s no. 1 producer of tin. Along with tin, there’s always Thorium and Uranium and therefore this is not Malaysia’s first facility, AELB is has experience to handle this, to overcome this and AELB is prepared.
THERE ARE MORE THAN 10 FACILITIES THAT ARE VERY SIMILAR TO LYNAS.
SOME OF THEM ARE PRODUCING HIGHER RESIDUES, HIGHER CONCENTRATION OF URANIUM AND THORIUM.
AELB has been able to regulate and control these factories, so it is based on AELB experience and the experience of the industry abroad.” Unquote
Dato’ Dr Looi
From the New Straits Times Press, Ahmad Ibrahim, Fellow of Academy of Sciences, Malaysia Quote:
“La Rochelle, the ‘Lynas of France’
Many would be surprised that La Rochelle has for decades been hosting a rare earths processing plant, similar to the one planned in Malaysia.
The La Rochelle facility, which belongs to France’s Rhodia Group, has for years been operating like Lynas. Forty years to be exact. And there has been no adverse health and safety report in the tourist town.
The Rhodia company is an active player in the rare earths business. It is a leading processor of rare earths. In fact, it’s the only fully integrated industrial player to have manufacturing operations and raw material supply both within and outside China.
The plant in La Rochelle has been in operation for more than 50 years.
In the early years, the plant processed rare earths ore concentrates from Australia and China just like Lynas would. For 40 years, the plant was operated in this manner, producing cerium for the world market.
The radioactive thorium residues have been stored within the plant’s 40ha site for the past 50 years. During storage, the residues are regularly monitored by the country’s regulatory authority, the equivalent of our Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB).
They believe the stored thorium salts will become a fuel of the future.
What is clear is that the rare earths processing facility in La Rochelle has been operating for more than five decades without harming the population. Instead, La Rochelle has thrived over the years as an attractive tourist destination not only for the French but also for holiday-makers from other European countries and even as far away as the United States.
Through the deployment of stringent health and safety standards, the chemical plant has been of no consequence to the local community.
Instead, it has contributed to the local economy not only in terms of job opportunities but also tax revenues.
After visiting La Rochelle, it beats me why there are still people who are so hung up on Lynas.”Unquote
Quote: AELB (Atomic Energy Licensing Board, Malaysia):
Malaysia was the world’s no. 1 producer of tin. Along with tin, there’s always Thorium and Uranium and therefore this is not Malaysia’s first facility, AELB is has experience to handle this, to overcome this and AELB is prepared.
THERE ARE MORE THAN 10 FACILITIES THAT ARE VERY SIMILAR TO LYNAS.
SOME OF THEM ARE PRODUCING HIGHER RESIDUES, HIGHER CONCENTRATION OF URANIUM AND THORIUM.
AELB has been able to regulate and control these factories, so it is based on AELB experience and the experience of the industry abroad.” Unquote
QUESTION: WHY IS IT THAT THERE ARE NO DEMONSTRATIONS BY
THE ANTI-LYNAS FOOT-SOLDIERS AGAINST THESE 10 CHEMICAL
PLANTS ALREADY IN MALAYSIA THAT ARE PRODUCING “WASTES
WITH HIGHER CONCENTRATIONS OF URANIUM AND THORIUM”?
ANSWER: 100% PURE POLITICS FROM TOXIC RADIOACTIVE
POLITICIANS !
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London)
Comparison of Radioactivity in Bq (Specific Activity: number of atoms decaying in 1second)
Pure freshly separated Thorium-232 = 4,080 Bq/gm
Pure Potassium-40 = 254,000 Bq/gm
Naturally Occurring Potassium (3 different isotopes) in our body and food = 31.825 Bq/gm
Artificially created Plutonium-238 = 634,000,000,000 Bq/gm (1/2 life=87.7 years)
Monazite ore from Amang or Tin Tailings in Malaysia = 284 Bq/gm
Lynas Rare Earth Waste = 6 Bq/gm
It has been estimated that in the worst case scenario, the radiation risk from the Lynas plant within a radius of 1 km is only 0.002 mSv/yr.
In Ramsar, Iran, the naturally occurring radiation
is extremely high at 260 mSv/yr. This is 13,000,000% higher than the expected worse case scenario in Kuantan.
Dosage in Biological Effect in mSv.
Sleeping next to someone for 8 hours 0.02 mSv/yr (10x Lynas worst case)
Sleeping in wooden house = 0.20 mSv/yr (100x Lynas worst case)
Smoking a pack of cigarettes daily 0.20 mSv/yr (100x Lynas worst case)
Slag brick and granite house = up to 2.0 mSv/yr (1,000x Lynas worst case)
Chest X-ray = 0.10 mSv
Medical or dental X-ray 0.39 mSv
CT Scan (Chest) = 10 mSv
CT Fluoroscopy of abdomen and pelvis 6 to 90 mSv (median=31 mSv)
(Source: UNSCEAR and EPA and IAEA)
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah.
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London).
EVEN THE SEX WORKERS IN KUANTAN WILL BENEFIT !
Even a primary school child should know that the construction of a multi-billion dollar industrial plant would bring enormous financial benefits to the local community as well as to the country.
Construction of the plant had provided a substantial boost to suppliers of commodities like concrete and steel and manufacturers of hundreds of other components. For example, the plant had used thousands of cubic metres of concrete—as well as
• Thousands of tons of steel and miles of piping
• Hundreds of miles of electric wiring and hundreds of electrical components and all these are supplied by our local contractors.
The construction of the plant itself would had added hundreds of millions to the gross domestic product.
Each year, the plant will generate billions in sales of the rare earth (economic output) and millions more in total labour income. These figures include both direct and secondary effects. The direct effects reflect the plant’s expenditures for goods, services and labour. The secondary effects include subsequent spending attributable to the presence of the plant and its employees as plant expenditures filter through the local economy (e.g., restaurants and shops buying goods and hiring employees).
And the subsequent production of the plant is expected to be in the billions of ringgit and this is considered to be part of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). Billions more would be added to the GDP as a result of the spin-off effect.
And when our GDP is increased by the billions, the government will be allowed to print more billions of ringgit (CREATING MONEY OUT OF THIN AIR) to pay for the schools, hospitals, subsidies and scholarships etc for the people, without any devaluation of our ringgit by the foreigners.
Key Facts
• Each year, the plant will generate millions to billions of ringgit as a spin-off effect in sales of goods and services in the local community and millions more in total labour income.
• Operation of the plant creates more than 350 highly paid permanent jobs. These jobs pay much more than those working the super markets or places like Kentucky Fried Chicken.
• The permanent jobs at the plant create an equivalent number of additional jobs in the local area to provide the goods and services necessary to support the plant work force (e.g., grocery stores, dry cleaners, car dealers). Even the sex workers in Kuantan would benefit!
• Construction of the new plant had created up to thousands of jobs at peak construction.
•
• Local contractors had benefited enormously from the construction of the plant, in terms of hundreds of millions of ringgit
•
• The yearly production of billions of ringgit of rare earth will add billions to our GDP and produce billions in export earnings (even though the money belongs to Lynas share holders, the national statistics will show up as our own in terms of GDP growth and export growth).
The economic job multiplier effect of any industrial plant is 4 to 5. So although the Lynas plant gives direct employment to 350 high paying jobs to the Kampong folks, the actual number of jobs created is more in the region of 1,750 !
Why do we have to give Lynas the 12 yrs tax free incentive?
Quote Optiplex330:
“Giving tax break is very common to entice people to set up business. If you are an Indian or Chinese your forebear coming from India or China know that very well. They were enticed to come to Malaysia to open up the country, and land were practically given free. Old people told me their land rental is a single pepper corn. Those who don’t know about tax break know zero about businesses. Having said that, I think the maximum is 10 yrs so Lynas is unusual in that it is given 12 years.
A classic example: Businesses have to give Bumi 30% share but when Intel came to Penang, they were allowed SPECIAL treatment and don’t have to give a single share to Bumi (may be this explain the extra 2 yrs tax break?). Why? This is because the government badly wanted Intel because when they come, they will bring along an entire electronic industry to Malaysia. So while government do not directly benefited from Intel, the follow on industry created by Intel greatly benefited Malaysia.
And also for this reason, those who think Lynas produces only about 300 jobs and no tax revenue for Malaysia are just being short sighted. They don’t know that because of Lynas, a Green Technology industry could be born and Siemens is the 1st to announce coming precisely because of Lynas. But because of Anti-Lynas, Siemens may pull out so there go more jobs and tax revenue for Malaysia.”
In Other Words, The Plant WILL Boost Local and Country’s Economy.
The Lynas plant WILL provide substantial economic benefits during the decades of operation. The jobs, employee’s taxes, and direct and secondary spending WILL strengthen the economy.
SO DO NOT ASK THE NON-PHYSICAL and RATHER CHILDISH QUESTION OF WHAT BENEFIT DO MALAYSIA GET FROM THE LYNAS PLANT!
Dato’ Dr Looi
DURING A PSC (Parliamentary Select Committee) MEETING:
Quote from New Straits Times:
“Earlier, the committee and members of the public who watched the hearing at UMP Chancellery lobby were shocked when a lecturer from the university’s Industrial Science and Technology Faculty told the committee that he had been dealing with rare earth for more than 20 years without any adverse effects to his health.
“I EVEN USED MY BARE HANDS WHEN EXTRACTING RARE EARTH
ELEMENTS BUT TO DATE, THE RADIOACTIVE LEVEL IN MY BODY IS
VERY LOW,” SAID PROFESSOR JOSE RAJAN FROM KERALA, INDIA.
Rajan explained that the existing technology, including those available in India, had matured and could handle radioactive materials and waste effectively.
“We must educate the people like what we did in Kerala. We also faced the opposition in the initial stage (of the rare earth industry) but with accurate information and the right approach, even the protesters can be educated,” he said.” Unquote
Comparison of Radioactivity in Bq (Specific Activity: number of atoms decaying in 1second)
Pure freshly separated Thorium-232 = 4,080 Bq/gm
Pure Potassium-40 = 254,000 Bq/gm
Naturally Occurring Potassium (3 different isotopes) in our body and food = 31.825 Bq/gm
Artificially created Plutonium-238 = 634,000,000,000 Bq/gm (1/2 life=87.7 years)
Monazite ore from Amang or Tin Tailings in Malaysia = 284 Bq/gm
Lynas Rare Earth Waste = 6 Bq/gm
It has been estimated that in the worst case scenario, the radiation risk from the Lynas plant within a radius of 1 km is only 0.002 mSv/yr.
In Ramsar, Iran, the naturally occurring radiation
is extremely high at 260 mSv/yr. This is 13,000,000% higher than the expected worse case scenario in Kuantan.
Dosage in Biological Effect in mSv.
Sleeping next to someone like your wife for 8 hours daily = 0.02 mSv/yr (10x Lynas worst case)
Sleeping in wooden house = 0.20 mSv/yr (100x Lynas worst case)
Smoking a pack of cigarettes daily 0.20 mSv/yr (100x Lynas worst case)
Slag brick and granite house = up to 2.0 mSv/yr (1,000x Lynas worst case)
Chest X-ray = 0.10 mSv
Medical or dental X-ray 0.39 mSv
CT Scan (Chest) = 10 mSv (5,000 x Lynas worst case scenario)
CT Fluoroscopy of abdomen and pelvis 6 to 90 mSv (median=31 mSv)
(Source: UNSCEAR and EPA and IAEA)
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah.
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London).
Comment by Anti-Lynas on article by Ahmad Ibrahim,
Fellow of Academy of Sciences, Malaysia Quote: ” It is with ridiculous and SAD to read the article and statement by our own science academician (e.g. CEO of ASM) on the rare earth processing plant in La Rochelle. Again, it just showed that how “un-informed” (or unwilling) is our so called “scientist” in finding the facts on the rare earth industry.
The plant in La Rochelle is not like Lynas. They don’t store the waste in their vicinity, the waste is stored in a facility specialized in disposing radioactive waste.” Unquote.
ANSWER:
The La Rochelle plant uses Monazite-(Ce)…(Ce, La, Nd, Th, Y)PO4 and this is by far the most common and most radioactive of the 3 types of monazite ore. The other 2 types which are Monazite-(La) and Monazite-(Nd).
The monazite from Malaysian Tin tailings has 6 to 7% Thorium-232 and has an activity of 284 Bq/g.
WASTES
Until the end of 1974, the plant released all radioactive liquids and solids directly into the sea. Since, and until the end of 1990, it sent at least a part of the solid residues to the CSM. These wastes are composed, among other substances, of thorium 232, uranium 238, and their descendants (including radium 226 and 228).
SOLID WASTES
–A solid residue resulting from the processing prior to July 1994 and described by Andra as “Résidu solide banalisé” (RSB), solid residue made commonplace.
As of June 1999, 8025 tons (50% moisture) with an activity of 217 GBq were on the site. The thorium 232 in the dry product represented 48 Bq/g; the uranium 238, 6 Bq/g.
Rhône-Poulenc placed 61,000 t of what Andra describes as RSB into a waste site located near its factory and belonging to the city of La Rochelle (Port de Pallice). The residues contain in particular thorium 232 (48 Bq/g dry product) and uranium 238 (6 Bq/g dry product), for a total of 1.65 TBq [Andra 00].
–Radioactive minerals that have not been attacked. According to Andra, they have been used to fill in a part of the plant site;
–Substances in suspension, the only residue produced by the minerals used today. 10,048 t (50% moisture) containing thorium 232 (2.6 Bq/g ) and uranium 238 (4.7Bq/g) for a total of 37 GBq are stored at the plant;
–Tailings, containing thorium 232, uranium 238, and their descendents including radium. They are more radioactive than the RSB (see above). They are located at Cadarache and presumably in the bay of La Rochelle. They were stored for a time at the CSM.
–Thorium nitrate and crude thorium hydroxide. The 2000 inventory of Andra states in a footnote that it does not take into consideration some 11,000 t of thorium nitrate (mass activity 1650 Bq/g) and about 20,000 t of crude thorium hydroxide (mass activity 720 Bq/g), the “historic” residue of the processing prior to mid-1994, because these substances are “commercialized at present “by Rhodia Terres Rares.
The thorium nitrate is used in the manufacture of lamp sleeves; the hydroxide “is a potential raw material.” Apparently these substances are stored at the site [Andra 99]. The 1997 inventory of Andra listed the hydroxide as a waste.
The waste thorium nitrate (mass activity 1650 Bq/g) has an activity which is 27,500% higher than the waste from Lynas which is only 6 Bq/g! Apparently these substances are stored at the site [Andra 99].
8,025 TONS OF WASTE WITH AN ACTIVITY OF 217 GBq were still stored in the compounds of the plant.
THIS “LOW RADIOACTICITY WASTE” has 48 Bq/g from Thorium 232 and 6 Bq/g from Uranium-238 giving a total of 54 Bq/g.
You have to realise that 54 Bq/g is 900% higher than that of the Lynas waste of 6 Bq/g.
And these wastes are still being stored in the compound of the plant.
IF THE FRENCH ARE NOT WORRIED ABOUT 54 Bq/g OF RADIOACTIVITY, WHY ARE SOME MALAYSIANS SO FRIGHTENED OF ONLY 6 Bq/g?
Answer: 100% pure politics from toxic radioactive politicians!
Dato’ Dr Looi
.
ANTI-LYNAS FOLKS ARE ADDICTED TO EXAGGERATION.
e.g. RIDICULOUS CLAIM: 1 QUARTER OF A MILLION PEOPLE SUPPORTED THE GREENIES DURING BERSIH 3 !
.
Quote: Lu Cheng Long
“Everyone claims that their view represent the majority. So the majority really reject Lynas? I don’t know, but anti Lynas people sure make a lot noise. But we know well informed people support Lynas.
ANOTHER THING IS DURING BERSIH 3, I SAW LOTS AND LOTS OF YELLOW, ONLY A HANDFUL OF PITIFUL GREEN. IT MUST BE A VERY HARD FEELING FOR ANTI LYNAS PEOPLE THINKING THAT THE NATION IS WITH THEM’ Unquote
Helicopter pictures of the main section of the crowd with subsequent computer analysis of “Bersih 3″ published in the Sin Chew Newspaper (yes, the Sin Chew Newspaper which is very sympathetic to the anti lynas people ) showed that the total number of people attending the demonstration in the main section was less than 5,000 people and not 250,000 people as claimed by some.
And only a tiny miserable proportion of these people are the “GREENIES”.
This type of gross exaggeration is very typical of the anti-lynas crowd.
Now you know how a simple chemical plant can be magically and conveniently transformed in to a Nuclear Plant!
HOPE THE SO CALLED INTERNATIONAL DEMONSTRATION NEXT WEEK BY A FEW MALAYSIAN GREENIES (OR BLACK SHIRTIES) AND A FEW AUSTRALIAN LOONIES WILL NOT BE INTERPRETED AS A WORLD WIDE ANTI-LYNAS DEMONSTRATION !
REMEMBER, THERE ARE ABOUT 194 COUNTRIES WITH ABOUT 600,000 CITIES AND TOWNS IN THE WORLD.
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah.
.
QUESTION BY ANTI-LYNAS: “CAN YOU BE SURE THAT THE LYNAS PLANT IS 100% SAFE ?
.
AND AS FAR AS THE 100% BUSINESS IS CONCERNED, THE ONLY THING IN LIFE WHICH WE CAN BE A 100% SURE OF IS THE CEMETERY AND THE LAVATORY. IF WE HAVE TO GO, WE HAVE TO GO 100%.
The chance of dying one day is 100%. So do not worry yourself to death about it!
• Dying from heart disease — 1 in 6 (lifetime risk)
• Dying in an auto accident — 1 in 75 (lifetime risk)
• Committing suicide — 1 in 71 (lifetime risk)
• Being Murdered — 1 in 140 (lifetime)
DYING FROM CANCER – 1 in 5 (lifetime risk)
• Being struck by lightning — 1 in 10,456 (lifetime)
• Seriously injuring yourself while shaving — 1 in 5,844 (annual risk)
• Going to prison this year — 1 in 139
• Dying from falling out of your bed or chair — 1 in 513,142
• Being stuck and killed by a falling aircraft — 1 in 25 million
• Getting food poisoning — 1 in 8 (annual risk)
• Hiring a sleazy lawyer — 1 in 8
• Freezing to death (in non-tropical countries) — 1 in 780,938 (annual risk)
SO ANTI-LYNAS FOLKS, IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO DIE FROM CANCER OR SOMETHING NASTY, THE BEST THING TO DO IS NOT TO BE BORN!
If one is already born, the best way to avoid dying from cancer is to die young from other illnesses like dengue, bird flu or malaria or from accidents!
MAYBE, IF ONE IS ALREADY BORN, ONE OF THE MOST PLEASANT WAY TO DIE IS TO DIE UNDER GA (GENERAL ANAESTHESIA) WHEN HAVING A SURGICAL OPERATION.
VERY PLEASANT, NO PAIN, NO KNOWLEDGE, JUST LIKE GOING TO A NORMAL SLEEP AND YOU DIE UNDER THE CLEAR KNOWLEDGE THAT YOUR WIFE AND FAMILY WILL BE WELL TAKEN CARE OF FINANCIALLY because they will be able to sue the surgeon and hospital for millions of dollars ! Dying in any other way which include heart disease, infection, renal failure, lung failure, cancer or even “old age” can be rather painful and uncomfortable !
The risk of dying from a road traffic related accident in Malaysia is much higher than that which has been predicted for the death from radiation induced cancers.
For instance in 2009, there were 6,745 deaths in a population of 27.9 million giving a rate of 24.17 deaths per 100,000.
The main reason why the people of Kuantan is so frightened of the “Fukushimization” of the Lynas plant is pure and simple politics.
The chairman of the coalition of one of the anti-lynas organisation said in one of the Blogs:
Quote: “Thanks for the clarification. I agree with you, the will of the people must prevail, IRREGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE LAMP IS SAFE OR NOT1″ Unquote.
What the above statement means in simple non-Australian English is that THE WHOLE ISSUE IS 100% POLITICS AND THERE IS REALLY NOTHING WRONG WITH THE LYNAS PROJECT except that it is a fantastic political tool for certain politicians to gain POWER.
ONCE THE GENERAL ELECTION IS OVER, LYNAS WILL BECOME A HIGHLY BENEFICIAL PROJECT especially if they win!
THERE ARE NO DANGEROUS RADIATION, NO TOXIC WASTE PROBLEM BUT A LOT OF TOXIC, RADIOACTIVE POLITICIANS with a lot of innocent naive brainwashed followers.
Dr Looi.
Anti- Lynas QUOTE:
Potassium-40, when absorbed, is distributed more uniformly throughout the human body, mostly in muscle tissue which is among the least radio-sensitive of the body’s tissues, Thorium entering the bloodstream localises to the bones where it is retained with a biological half-life of 22 years
ANSWER:
When Potassium is taken into the body it is not just concentrated in the muscles but concentrated in the INTRACELLULAR spaces of ALL CELLS where the cancer sensitive chromosomes are located!
So to say that Potassium concentration is less in the radiosensitive cells of the blood, lymphoid tissues, testis, ovaries and intestine is definitely not in line with basic human physiology.
It is concentrated and equally distributed in ALL INTRACELLULAR SPACES . In terms of per cell mass, it may be slightly less only in fat cells.
Intracellular Potassium = 139 to 140 mEq
Extracellular Potassium = 4 mEq which is tiny compared with the Intracellular Potassium.
Thorium-232 stays mainly in the extracellular space where it is not so harmful.
Practically all the data on the acute and long term toxicology of Thorium-232 comes from the study of Thorotrast.
Most of the human data for thorium exposure comes from diagnostic studies. A massive dose of 1 to 2 vials of 25 ml of 25% Colloidal thorium-232 dioxide (Thorotrast) was injected into patients as a radiographic contrast medium between 1928 and 1955.
Thorium dioxide in Thorotrast is insoluble and in a colloidal form i.e. in the form of particles. All insoluble particles are taken up by the macrophages and other cells of the reticulo-endothelial (RE) system and deposited into the tissues of the RE system i.e. the liver, spleen, lymph nodes, bone marrow and parts of the small intestines and not just the bones.
In humans, where will the soluble and not particulate form of Thorium salts be deposited and what is the renal clearance and hence their biological half life ? Nobody really knows because, for obvious reasons, all studies done on Thorium are conducted on animals. The results are only applicable to rats, rabbits, cats and dogs !
In places like Kerala, a coastal belt in India, the concentration of Thorium-232 in the soil average about 4,000 ppm.
The radiation at Karunagapally, Kerala has been assessed at 5 to 8 milisievert/year. In certain location on the coast, it is as high as 70 milisievert/year.
Thorium-232 is strongly adsorbed to clay and there is no natural way it can get into the body. Even the plants and fruits do not contain any Thorium in these high Thorium areas.
The amount of Thorium in the human body is so tiny (estimated to be only 30 micrograms per body) that only extremely sophisticated equipments are able to measure the true level.
The epidemiological data from these studies show that the primary health effects of high doses of injected Thorotrast are blood disorders and liver tumours. However, these tumours and blood disorders could have been caused by the massive doses of X-rays from the rather antique X-ray machines used at that time.
Because these are contrast studies, more than 20 to 50 X-rays need to be taken and the dose is really massive. None of the studies have factored in this massive dose of X-rays as all the studies are done retrospectively.
Some evidence of increased incidence of lung, pancreatic, and haematopoietic cancers was found in workers occupationally exposed to thorium via inhalation.
However, these workers were also exposed to several other toxic agents especially Silica (SiO2) which is a group 1 carcinogen and in some cases to other radionuclides like Uranium, K-40 and Radium, so direct causation cannot be inferred.
Inhalation of Thorium-232 by the general population like those living in the cities is practically impossible for the particles that can get into the lungs need to be between 1 to 5 microns. These tiny particles can only be found in the thorium or uranium mines or unsophisticated refineries.
Few data are available regarding the health effects associated with low (e.g., environmental) levels of exposure from either inhalation or ingestion.
Dr Looi
NICK TSURIKOV, RADIATION SAFETY SPECIALIST, ON LYNAS PLANT, QUOTE:
“The following has been confirmed way too many times and has NEVER EVER been proven to be false by anyone:
1. Radiation from the plant will be undetectable outside the boundaries;
2. None of the materials have to be signposted as ‘radioactive’ for transport – as per international regulations, since 1996;
3. In accordance with international guidelines, the plant can be allowed to operate pretty much anywhere in the world with minimal regulation;
4. Vast majority of tailings will have only half of thorium that is in normal Malaysian soil;
5. Thorium in other waste is insoluble and cannot ‘poison’ any plants, animals or the environment – even in theory;
6. Blending of tailings follows the basic safety principle of World Health Organisation, International Labour Organisation and seven more UN and other reputable international organisation – with guidelines on this existing in many countries;
7. Maximum dose to workers is not expected to be more that ~25% of the limit, therefore – in accordance with international guidelines – personal monitoring is not even necessary: the doses are so low that they can be assessed for a ‘work group’, no need for ‘individual’ assessments. Unquote.
ORE FOR LYNAS PLANT = 1,600 ppm (parts per million)
2 MOST VOLUMINOUS LYNAS “WASTE” = 12 ppm
SMALL 3rd RESIDUE STREAM = 1,500 ppm of Thorium
AVERAGE MALAYSIAN SOIL = 20 ppm OF THORIUM
Nick Tsurikov, Radiation Safety Expert: ” THE MAJORITY OF THIS LYNAS “WASTE” WILL HAVE ONLY HALF THE THORIUM THAN IN NORMAL MALAYSIAN SOIL.
So, in fact most of Lynas residues are only half as radioactive as the sand the kids all over Malaysia play in the kindergartens” (Note: Sand or crystalline SiO2 is also classified as a group 1 Carcinogen by IARC).
If you do look through the Lynas RIA together with UN (not IAEA) reports – you will clearly see that two most ‘voluminous’ residues from LAMP will have less than 12 parts per million of thorium – and the average Malaysian soil – 20 parts per million of thorium. Of course, the third ‘residue stream’ will have about 1500 ppm of thorium and will need to be managed appropriately
Dr Looi
.
QUOTE ANTI-LYNAS FOOT SOLDIER: “DURING THE RECENT “INTERNATIONAL” DEMONSTRATION AGAINST LYNAS, A VOTE WAS TAKEN AND NEARLY ALL THE VOTERS ARE AGAINST LYNAS”.
Misusing, Misrepresenting and Misinterpreting legitimate scientific methodology and statistical analysis in order to distort the truth and further enhance the misinformation they have engraved into the innocent minds of their naive and innocent brainwashed followers, is the classical hallmark of the Anti-Lynas clique.
They assume that all Malaysians have IQs that would make even a chimpanzee laugh !
If you are to hold a “DEMONcratic” vote among Anti-Lynas people who are fanatical enough to take the trouble to go to a demonstration in order to massage the ego of their egoistic master brainwasher, it will not take even the intelligence of a 1 year old child to know what the outcome would be.
IT IS TANTAMOUNT TO TAKING A VOTE AT AN INTERNATIONAL PURE VEGETARIAN CONVENTION TO ASSESS HOW MANY PEOPLE IN THIS WORLD ARE AGAINST EATING MEAT.
And…… out comes… the answer :…”99.9999% OF THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD ARE AGAINST EATING MEAT ! (not 100% only because a couple of people accidentally drop the slip into the wrong box like what they did in Kuantan !)
This type of statistics is best confined to the garbage bin. Come to think about it even the garbage bin is too clean for such crab ! Even the garbage bin might object !
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK) MRCP(London)
*
http://kickdefella.net/2012/04/17/lynas-negligible-radiation-but-only-toxic-chemical-waste/#more-5242
REMEMBER THE “WHITE GAS BULBS” OR RATHER KEROSENE GAS MANTLES MADE IN GERMANY?
THESE WERE USED IN THOSE LANTERNS WHICH GIVE OFF A VERY BRIGHT WHITE LIGHT AND WERE UNIVERSALLY USED BY ALL STREET HAWKERS IN THE WHOLE OF MALAYSIA IN THE 60s AND 70s?
THESE GAS MANTLES ARE MADE OF FABRIC SOAKED IN THORIUM-232 MIXED WITH A LITTLE CERIUM. AND AFTER THE INITIAL “FIRING” IT BECOMES ALMOST PURE THORIUM DIOXIDE.
IN THE BURNING KEROSENE VAPOUR, THE TEMPERATURE CAN REACH OVER 1,000 DEGREES CENTIGRADE.
MILLIONS OF MALAYSIANS IN THE PAST HAD HELD THESE “DANGEROUS, RADIOACTIVE” THORIUM GAS MANTLES IN THEIR HANDS.
THESE ARE STILL BEING SOLD FREELY AND WITHOUT ANY SPECIAL LICENSE FROM AELB.
REMEMBER THORIUM DIOXIDE HAS A SPECIFIC ACTIVITY OF 3,585 Bq/g ! THE “WASTE” FROM LYNAS IS ONLY 6 Bq/g.
WHY ARE FOLKS FROM THE ANTI-LYNAS CAMP SO FRIGHTEN OF 6 Bq/g FROM LYNAS WASTE WHILE NOT WORRIED ABOUT THE 3,585 Bq/g OF RADIATION FROM THEIR KEROSENE LAMP ?
Dr Looi
*
THORIUM-232, THOROTRAST, RADIATION AND CANCER
I have known about the controversy of Thorotrast (a 25 cc vail of a 25% colloidal suspension of Thorium dioxide) since I was a medical student in Manchester about 45 years ago and in fact I have been collecting a fair amount of data with regards to this contrast media.
Thorotrast was given as a contrast media via the vein and the dose of Thorium used was huge, though this depends on the type of radiological procedure done.
It had been estimated that as many as 4 million people were given this contrast in the 1930 to late 1950s.
It has been claimed that there was an increase in the incidence of cancers especially of the liver.
However, we need to consider a number of factors before we can be sure that this is the real culprit.
1) The radiation dose from those old X-ray machines in the 1930 to 1950s are hundreds of times that of the present machines.
For instance an 1896 X-ray machine was tested and found to have exposed the body to 1,500 times more radiation than modern technology does, largely because each image took 90 minutes to develop, dramatically increasing the patient’s cumulative exposure to the rays. By 1930 to 1950s, the radiation dose have improved a lot but still much higher than the present X-ray machines.
Modern day X-rays require only about 21 milliseconds, and technicians place lead coverings over the body to protect vital organs from even this slight exposure.
Even in the 50s and 60s, the dose of X-rays from Tuberculosis screening is about 100 times higher than that of today’s Chest X-Ray.
The fluoroscope leaves the X-ray beam “on” while the physician does his examination and as such, the fluoroscope has the potential to deliver very high X-ray doses.
In the 1920s, fluoroscopy became very popular procedure not only among radiologists, but also among many kinds of physicians.
Radiological methods of diagnosis became so important that no investigation of a patient is considered complete without the X-rays, which generally include fluoroscopy. These studies are often carried out by a general practitioner or surgeon in his office.
In 1942, Dr. Franz Buschke and Herbert M. Parker wrote (Buschke 1942):
“Recently we became aware of the fact that apparently a number of pediatricians include fluoroscopy in the monthly routine examinations of infants in their care during the first and second years of life.” This pediatric practice is confirmed in Pifer 1963 and in Blatz 1970.
After studying the radiation output of seven fluoroscopes in the offices of “reputable pediatricians selected at random,” Buschke and Parker estimated (Buschke 1942, p.527): “If the average rapid fluoroscopy by an experienced and well-adapted examiner takes twenty seconds, about 8.3 roentgens [entrance dose] will be delivered at this rate or 100 roentgens during the first year of life.” The roentgen is a dose-unit which is approximately equivalent to a rad (actually it is less as the ICRU defined the roentgen to be 2.58e -4 C/Kg in 1971)
Fluoroscopy was popular also in hospitals.
(Braestrup 1942, p.213):
“During the past years, we have measured the roentgen output of large numbers of fluoroscopes, using the settings at which they are normally operated … and have found a very wide variation … Attention is called particularly to test B-116, where the R [roentgen] per minute at the panel was 127, that is, an erythema dose would be reached in about three minutes. Such a unit could be classified as a lethal diagnostic weapon and yet there are many of these still in use.”
Of the various types of radiologic equipment, the mobile unit probably has been responsible for more radiation damage than any other piece of apparatus. These accidents have in most cases occurred while the mobile unit was used for fluoroscopy by surgeons, who apparently did not realize the high output obtained at short distances.”
In an attempt to prevent some injuries, A LIMIT OF 100 ROENTGENS (approximately 1,000 mSv) per fluoroscopic examination was set in New York City hospitals (Braestrup 1969).
The patients who received the Thorotrast were subjected to a huge dose of X-rays from these antique X-ray machines.
This huge dose of X-rays may be the cause of most of the cancers, we just do not know as most of the studies are unable to assess the X-ray’s dose. All these studies are done 20 to 30 years later.
So we cannot use other patients who have X-rays done in the 1930s to 1950s as a control group since most X-rays which do not need a contrast media consist of only 1 or 2 X-ray pictures.
It is generally accepted that the risk of radiation induced cancer is 1 in 20,000 per mSv.
As such, a dose of about 1,000 mSv would mean a risk of 1 in 20. For 4 million patients injected with Thorotrast, THIS RADIATION WOULD GIVE RISE TO AN EXCESS OF 200,000 CASES OF RADIATION INDUCED CANCERS IN THE 4 MILLION CASES OF “THOROTRAST” PATIENTS!
In 1953, Dade W. Moeller (then of the Public Health Service; later, president of the Health Physics Society) published an estimate that the average entrance dose per fluoroscopic examination was about 65 roentgens (about 650 mSv) at mid-century (Moeller 1953, pp.58-59).
The use of Thorotrast was discontinued by 1953.
2) The contrast studies are usually done for patients who are rather ill and may have multiple other disorders.
The cancers usually appear (as most cancers do) about 20 to 30 years later when the patients reach the “cancer” age. Because of this long lapse of cause and effect, all the studies are retrospective in nature.
And as you know, all retrospective studies are full of problems and inaccuracies.
3) A lot of these patients, have other disorders which may also lead to cancer like alcoholic cirrhosis, hepatitis B and hepatitis C. In fact the first case of liver cancer I saw in Manchester was an old alcoholic with severe liver cirrhosis. But he also had Thorotrast contrast study more than 20 years earlier. Because of this history, the surgeon had to report him as a Thorotrast induced cancer.
4) With about 4 million by now old people, we are bound to come across a lot of cancer cases. Since the life time risk of cancer in the advanced countries is 1 in 5, there should be about 800,000 cases of cancer due to other causes.
So how many if any of these (taking into account all the above problems) are really caused by the radiation from the massive dose of intravenous Thorium-232… nobody can be really sure. If anybody says he can tell, then either he is lying or he does not know what he is saying.
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK) MRCP(London)
CONFUSION ON THE SPECIFIC ACTIVITY OF THORIUM-232 IN ONE OF THE LYNAS “WASTE” STREAM…..6.2 Bq/g or 62 Bq/g ?
It looks like a lot of people do not have even the basic knowledge of radioactivity concentrations and the various methods of calculating the specific activity of the radionuclides, especially of the series radionuclide.
There are essentially two ways of doing this, one is old fashioned way which use the total activity and the other is the modern currently in use and internationally accepted one and this uses only the concentration of the “mother” radionuclide.
Old method: “Since each atom of Thorium-232 decays into 11 other atoms of other radionuclides (12 atoms involved), each Bq of Thorium-232 had been assumed to be multiplied by a factor of 10 (10 because the end result Lead-208 is considered non-radioactive though this may not be true as it still has a half life of 19 million billion years, and Bismuth-212 decays either into Polonium-212 or to Thallium-208 both of which then decay into Lead-208..so Po-212 and Tl-208 can be considered as 1 Bq only).”
Quote: International Radiation Safety Expert Nick Tsurikov:
” On this basis, if a material contains 400 parts per million of thorium – its specific activity is calculated as follows:
a) Outdated method – 400 x 4.09 (specific activity of Th-232) x 10 (number of radio nuclides in the thorium decay chain) = 16,360 Bq/kg, or 16.4 Bq/g
b) International standard (IAEA, AELB and Australia) – 400 x 4.09 = 1,630 Bq/kg, or 1.64 Bq/g.”
Unquote.
The Anti-Lynas folk is now using this old fashion way of looking at specific activity to confuse the people.
Because of all this, they claim that the Lynas “waste” is not 6.2 Bq/g but 62 Bq/g and Lynas has been misleading the people about the radioactivity.
The truth is that nobody, except some of the Chinese in China still use this non-standard way of looking at specific activity of a series radionuclide.
The old method has been discontinued internationally since about 1997.
Actually, when we use the standard description “Lynas waste has only 6.2 Bq/g”, we have already factored in the radiation from all the daughter radionuclides.
For instance, all the dose coefficients given by IAEA of 0.39 microSv/hr/Bq/g for radiation at 1 metre from a pile of Thorium, and by UNSCEAR of 0.604 microSv/hr/Bq/gm for radiation dose from an infinite field of Thorium DEMANDS THAT WE USE THE STANDARD WAY OF DESCRIBING SPECIFIC ACTIVITY i.e. 1 Bq of activity in both a series or single non-series decay means 1 atom of the “mother” radionuclide decaying.
So as far as the dosage in terms of biological effects is concerned, whether we use the standard 6.2 Bq/g or the old Chinese way of 62 Bq/g to describe the radioactivity of the Lynas “waste”, there is NO DIFFERENCE, as, if we were to use the old Chinese 62 Bq/g, we will have to divide the IAEA and UNSCEAR coefficients by a factor of 10.
Dato’ Dr Looi
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Quote:
“Odysess Sin Ner >>………..I am interested to know how does 64,000 tons/annum of acidic thorium will behave in a swampy, wet and leaky condition. Please do not divert the topic and talk about politics that thorium is not soluble. This is truly a coward act and deceiving saying. People is talking about fact but you are mentioning about politics. Oh ya… it is pricking your bone isn’t it? Step up like a man and quench my keen to know as my statement says.” Unquote
Answer:
The figure of 64,000 tons per year of Thorium alleged to be produced by the Lynas plant is too ridiculous to be true.
Let’s see…
The Lynas ore from Mount Weld contains less than 1,600 ppm (parts per million of Thorium) so:
1,600 tons of Thorium = 1,000,000 tons of Ore.
64,000 tons of Thorium = 64,000 x 1 million divided by 1,600
= 40,000,000 tons of Ore !!
WHERE ON EARTH IS LYNAS GOING TO FIND THE SHIPS TO CARRY 40,000,000 TONS OF ORE PER YEAR FROM AUSTRALIA TO KUANTAN !!
IF A GIANT LORRY COULD CARRY 4 TONS, WE NEED 10,000,000 LORRY LOADS TO CARRY THE ORE FROM THE PORT TO THE PLANT !
THIS IS THE TYPE OF GROSS EXAGGERATION THAT IS VERY TYPICAL OF THE ANTI-LYNAS FOLK.
Actually, Lynas is expected to produce about 820,000 tons of WLP in the 1st 10 years of operation or 82,000 tons of WLP per year.
The WLP (Water Leached Product) contains less than 1,600 ppm or 0.16 % of Thorium-232.
As such we would expect to get only 0.0016 x 82,000 tons of Thorium per year i.e.131 tons of Thorium per year AND NOT 64,000 TONS OF THORIUM PER YEAR !
This magical transformation of 131 tons of Thorium into 64,000 tons of Thorium reminds me of this joke:
“For normal people 1 + 1 = 2 but for those people in the Share Market 1 + 1 = 11,”
AND OF COURSE, FOR THE ANTI-LYNAS FOLK, 131 = 64,000 !
Dato’ Dr Looi.
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http://kickdefella.net/2012/04/17/lynas-negligible-radiation-but-only-toxic-chemical-waste/#more-5242
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Quote CK Foo “Hey, we wont be jobless without this plant, Stop stating that how This bloody plant will boost Malaysian economy.”Unquote
This is one of the most RIDICULOUS AND SELFISH statement made by a member of the Anti-Lynas clique.
If he is one of those 1,750 people directly or indirectly employed by Lynas and whose salaries or income are needed to put food on the tables for their families to survive, he would not make such an insensitive and hurtful statement.
Please read on:
What Benefit Do Malaysia Get From The Lynas Plant?
Even a primary school child should know that the construction of a multi-billion dollar industrial plant would bring enormous financial benefits to the local community as well as to the country.
Construction of the plant had provided a substantial boost to suppliers of commodities like concrete and steel and manufacturers of hundreds of other components. For example, the plant had used thousands of cubic metres of concrete—as well as
• Thousands of tons of steel and miles of piping
• Hundreds of miles of electric wiring and hundreds of electrical components and all these are supplied by our local contractors.
The construction of the plant itself would had added hundreds of millions to the gross domestic product.
Each year, the plant will generate billions in sales of the rare earth (economic output) and millions more in total labour income. These figures include both direct and secondary effects. The direct effects reflect the plant’s expenditures for goods, services and labour. The secondary effects include subsequent spending attributable to the presence of the plant and its employees as plant expenditures filter through the local economy (e.g., restaurants and shops buying goods and hiring employees).
And the subsequent production of the plant is expected to be in the
billions of ringgit and this is considered to be part of the country’s gross
domestic product (GDP). Billions more would be added to the GDP as a
result of the spin-off effect.
Since the billions of dollars worth of rare earth exports will be considered part of our export statistics, our exports and trade surplus will also increase by the billions.
And when our GDP is increased by the billions, the government will be
allowed to print more billions of ringgit (CREATING MONEY OUT OF
THIN AIR ) to pay for the schools, hospitals, subsidies and scholarships
etc for the people, without any devaluation of our ringgit by the
foreigners.
Key Facts
• Each year, the plant will generate millions to billions of ringgit as a spin-off effect in sales of goods and services in the local community and millions more in total labour income.
• Operation of the plant creates more than 350 highly paid permanent jobs. These jobs pay much more than those working the super markets or places like Kentucky Fried Chicken.
• The permanent jobs at the plant create an equivalent number of additional jobs in the local area to provide the goods and services necessary to support the plant work force (e.g., grocery stores, dry cleaners, car dealers). Even the sex workers in Kuantan would benefit!
• Construction of the new plant had created up to thousands of jobs at peak construction.
•
• Local contractors had benefited enormously from the construction of the plant, in terms of hundreds of millions of ringgit
•
• The yearly production of billions of ringgit of rare earth will add billions to our GDP and produce billions in export earnings (even though the money belongs to Lynas share holders, the national statistics will show up as our own in terms of GDP growth and export growth).
THE ECONOMIC JOB MULTIPLIER EFFECT OF ANY INDUSTRIAL PLANT
IS ABOUT 4 TO 8.. So although the Lynas plant gives direct employment to
350 high paying jobs to the Kampong folks, THE ACTUAL NUMBER OF
JOBS CREATED IS MORE THAN IN THE REGION OF 1,750 !
Why do we have to give Lynas the 12 yrs tax free incentive?
Quote Optiplex330:
“Giving tax break is very common to entice people to set up business. If you are an Indian or Chinese your forebear coming from India or China know that very well. They were enticed to come to Malaysia to open up the country, and land were practically given free.
Old people told me their land rental is a single pepper corn. Those who don’t know about tax break know zero about businesses. Having said that, I think the maximum is 10 yrs so Lynas is unusual in that it is given 12 years.
A classic example: Businesses have to give Bumi 30% share but when Intel came to Penang, they were allowed SPECIAL treatment and don’t have to give a single share to Bumi (may be this explain the extra 2 yrs tax break?).
Why? This is because the government badly wanted Intel because when they come, they will bring along an entire electronic industry to Malaysia.
So while government do not directly benefited from Intel, the follow on industry created by Intel greatly benefited Malaysia.
And also for this reason, those who think Lynas produces only about 300 jobs and no tax revenue for Malaysia are just being short sighted. They don’t know that because of Lynas, a Green Technology industry could be born and Siemens is the 1st to announce coming precisely because of Lynas.
But because of Anti-Lynas, Siemens may pull out so there go more jobs and tax revenue for Malaysia.”
In Other Words, The Plant WILL Boost Local and Country’s Economy.
The Lynas plant WILL provide substantial economic benefits during the decades of operation.
The jobs, employee’s taxes, and direct and secondary spending WILL strengthen the economy.
SO DO NOT ASK THE NON-PHYSICAL and RATHER CHILDISH QUESTION OF WHAT BENEFIT DO MALAYSIA GET FROM THE LYNAS PLANT!
Dato’ Dr Looi
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DO YOU KNOW THAT COFFEE HAS A RADIOACTIVITY OF 1,000 Bq/Kg?
And yet:
According to recent research, Coffee is good for you:
Quote: “Mental and Medical Benefits of Coffee:
From Medscape:
The best part of waking up…is reducing your risk of neurodegeneration. And depression, and cancer, and cardiovascular disease… It’s becoming increasingly clear that coffee is more than just a morning routine.
…
The body of data suggesting that the world’s most widely used stimulant is beneficial in a variety of mental and medical conditions is growing at a staggering rate.
A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that COFFEE CONSUMPTION LOWERED ALL-CAUSE MORTALITY BY OVER 10% AT 13 YEAR FOLLOW-UP.” Unquote
According to Shakespeare,
“ALCOHOL PROVOKES THE DESIRE BUT TAKES
AWAY THE PERFORMANCE”……. WHEREAS COFFEE
EVOKES THE DESIRE AND REINSTATES YOUR
PREVIOUS MAGNIFICENT PERFORMANCE !
SO DRINK MORE COFFEE AND FORGET ABOUT THE
RADIATION.
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London)
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http://kickdefella.net/2012/04/17/lynas-negligible-radiation-but-only-toxic-chemical-waste/#more-5242
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Quote: Anti-Lynas:
“Bukit merah (malaysia), bopal (india), chenobly (russia) and every other industries always has the same vision until it went bad.” Unquote.
“TITANIC (BRITAIN) death = 1,496; THE EMPRESS OF IRELAND (CANADA) death = 1,012; FERRY DONA PAZ (PHILLIPINES) death = 4,340; STAR FERRY (SCANDINAVIA) death = 159; FERRY ESTONIA, death = 852 and the Costa Concordia and every other passenger ship industry has the same vision until it went bad.
SO USING THE SAME PERVERTED UNINTELLIGENT NONSENSICAL NONPHYSICAL LOGIC,
STOP ALL PASSENGER SHIPS FROM SAILING IN THE EVER DANGEROUS SEAS !!!!!
Dato’ Dr Looi
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Anti-Lynas Quote: ” Lynas is like the captain of Exxon Valdez when he mess up. would anyone trust him on a boat anymore? Lynas has breach the trust of Gebeng people by doing a sloppy EIA report” Unquote.
The main issue here has always been a “Fukushima” style explosion sending clouds of radioactive dust all over Kuantan.
And when this was debunked, the anti-lynas folk has been claiming that the plant will be discharging out vast quantities of toxic and radioactive wastes.
So has Lynas messed up by destroying the plant and caused a catastrophe even before the plant is functioning?
The answer is a big NO and as such the question of “Would anyone trust him on a boat anymore? IS IRRELEVANT, PREMATURE AND UNFAIR.”
THIS IS TANTAMOUNT TO ACCUSING SOMEONE OF SHOPLIFTING EVEN BEFORE HE ENTERS THE SHOP !
AND WHO SAYS THAT LYNAS HAS DONE A SLOPPY JOB ON THE EIA?
DO YOU EXPECT LYNAS TO EMPLOY ALL THE NUCLEAR SCIENTISTS AND ALL THE PROFESSORS OF THE WORLD’S LEADING UNIVERSITIES TO DO AN EIA ON THE PLANT?
LET’S BE FAIR. WHY NOT INSIST ON A “REAL PROPER EIA” ON ALL THE INDUSTRIAL PLANTS IN THE COUNTRY?
WHY JUST TARGET LYNAS?
And as Ng Ai Soo said “For example, a 1,000MW coal plant after just 1 year of operation produces 6,000,000 tons of CO2, 44,000 tons of SO2, 22,000 tons of NO2, 320,000 tons of ash containing 400 tons of heavy metals (arsenic, mercury, cadmium, lead etc.) and, here’s the kicker, including 5 tons of Uranium and 12 tons of Thorium from which the radon gas of both decay chains are out the chimney and into our air… and we are building TWO of these now to add to those we already have on the peninsula.
Where do we store this waste? Does this waste go into making our roads or construction material? What is Lynas waste in comparison?! How did we manage to put up with that yearly radioactive and toxic waste, and plan to build more of the same, with no objection from the Anti-Lynas people? “Unquote.
“In fact, the fly ash emitted by a power plant—a by-product from burning coal for electricity—carries into the surrounding environment 100 times more radiation than a nuclear power plant producing the same amount of energy.” (Quote from Scientific American)
By a similar analogy, by making the ridiculous and nonsensical claim that the Lynas plant is like a nuclear plant that will explode one day, the Anti-Lynas folk has breached the trust of the Gebeng people and cannot be trusted anymore !
Dato’ Dr Looi
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QUOTE jeffri chang: ” It is silly to think that malaysia need lynas for it economy. therefore if it is, it not worth a penny due to the waste that our future generation have to take care.
You no hero for the people of gebeng but a person who desperate to have lynas running so you can get YOUR KICK BACK AND REWARDS.” Unquote.
Answer:
Not everyone is as MERCENARY AS THE WRITER OF the above statement.
As I have repeatedly said, I am not Anti or Pro-Lynas, Anti or Pro-Government and have absolutely nothing to gain (NO EVEN ONE SEN) by trying to debunk all the misleading statements made by the anti-lynas people.
I AM JUST ANTI-IGNORANCE AND WILL BACK ANYONE WHO IS TELLING THE TRUTH, BE IT LYNAS OR THE GOVERNMENT (OR EVEN THE ANTI-LYNAS FOLK……i.e. IF THEY TELL THE TRUTH).
IT ONLY HAPPEN THAT LYNAS AND THE GOVERNMENT ARE THE ONES TELLING THE TRUTH IN THIS CONTROVERSY.
THE EVENT THAT REALLY MAKES MY BLOOD BOIL IS WHEN I SAW THOSE PICTURES OF PATHETIC POOR PATIENTS FROM BUKIT MERAH WITH UNRELATED DISEASES AND DISORDERS BEING USED BY UNSCRUPULOUS, IMMORAL, DESPICABLE PEOPLE TO ACHIEVE THEIR AIM OF DESTROYING THE LYNAS PROJECT AND AS SUCH DESTROY THE LIVELIHOOD OF OVER 1,750 PEOPLE WHO DEPEND ON THE SUCCESS OF THE PLANT TO PUT FOOD ON THE TABLE FOR THEIR FAMILIES TO EAT.
THE ILLNESSES THESE PEOPLE HAVE, HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE LYNAS CHEMICAL PLANT!
I WONDER IF THESE UNSCRUPULOUS PEOPLE REALISE THAT THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE IN KUANTAN WHO ARE SO POOR THAT THEY HAVE TO SEARCH THE RUBBISH BINS IN THE KUANTAN MARKET TO FIND FOOD FOR THEIR FAMILIES.
WHEN I AND MY WIFE COME ACROSS THESE PEOPLE WE DO GIVE THEM SOME MONEY.
SO THE ANTI-LYNAS PEOPLE SHOULD BE HELPING THESE PEOPLE INSTEAD OF TRYING TO DESTROY THE LIVELIHOOD OF OTHERS.
THE GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN TRYING VERY HARD TO START INDUSTRIES LIKE LYNAS IN ORDER TO PROVIDE JOBS FOR THE PEOPLE ESPECIALLY THE POOR KAMPONG FOLK AND CLOWNS LIKE THOSE FROM THE ANTI-LYNAS CLIQUE ARE GOING ROUND DESTROYING THESE JOB CREATING INDUSTRIES.
I AM DEFINITELY NOT LIKE THE PAID PROFESSIONALS HIRED TO COMBAT THE TRUTH AND ASK SILLY QUESTIONS, NOT FOR THE PURPOSE OF INTELLECTUAL BENEFIT BUT RATHER SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF CYBER HARASSMENT AND CYBER THUGGERY.
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK) MRCP(London)
1. Malaysian Journal of Nuclear and Related Technology
THE ANNUAL DOSE RATE EXPOSURE FROM MALAYSIAN
CLAY BRICK HOUSE = 0.43 mSv/year
(215 x Lynas Worst Case Scenario)
2. SLEEPIN IN WOODEN HOUSE = 0.20 mSv/yr
(100x Lynas worst case)
3. SLAG BRICK AND GRANITE HOUSE = up to 2.0 mSv/yr
(1,000x Lynas worst case)
SO TO ALL ANTI-LYNAS FOLKS, YOU SHOULD PITCH UP A TENT NEXT TO THE LYNAS PLANT AND SEND YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY TO LIVE NEXT TO LYNAS AS THIS IS HUNDREDS OF TIMES LESS RADIOACTIVE THAN LIVING IN YOUR PRESENT WOODEN OR BRICK HOUSES !
Dato’ Dr Looi
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RADIOACTIVITY IN THE LIFE SAVING MEDICALLY PRESCRIBED POTASSIUM.
The potassium chloride salt that is prescribed by dieticians as an adjunct for high blood pressure therapy as well as the potassium chloride used by the medical profession, is radioactive with a radioactivity of 32 Bq/gm.
(1 Becquerel or Bq is 1 nuclear decay per second.)
It is a real surprise that the vast majority of doctors, including senior consultants, professors and university lecturers do not know this.
The radioactivity comes from Potassium-40 (K-40) which is a naturally-occurring radioactive material or NORM.
Wherever there is potassium, there is potassium-40. It constitutes 0.0117% of natural potassium.
Potassium-40 is a beta (87.3%) and gamma (10.67%) emitter and contributes to both internal and external doses. The other 2 isotopes of potassium are K-39 and K-41 and both of these are considered to be non-radioactive.
The total internal dose to a typical member of the population from internal radionuclides is about 0.42mSv/yr and is approximately 0.29 mSv/yr is due to the K-40 in the body. The rest of the dosage is from C-14.
According to the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement (NCRP) and its international counterpart, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), the recommendations for the maximum permissible dose (MPD) of radiation =
General Public annual MPD by both NCRP and ICRP is 1 mSv.
For Radiation Workers, the annual MPD is 50 mSv (NCRP) and 20 mSv (ICRP), with a cumulative MPD of 10 mSv x Age.
MPD during pregnancy is 5 mSv (NCRP) and 2 mSv (ICRP).
However, experts including Professor Wade Allison of Oxford University argue that the dose limit can safely be raised to 100 millisieverts, based on current health statistics.
Data
K-40 Half-life: 1.28 x 10^9 years
K-40 Decay Mode:
Gamma Rays: 1461 keV (10.7%)
Beta decay (89.3%). The beta maximum energy is 1.31 MeV
Electron Capture (10.7%).
Daily intake of potassium element: 3.3 grams
Amount of potassium element in body: 140 g to 250 g (about 4,400 Bq)
There is a very tight homeostatic control over potassium levels in the human body. This means that the consumption of foods containing large amounts of potassium will not increase the body’s potassium content
Because of the rare earth plant in Malaysia and the fear of dangerous radiation from the NORM Thorium-232, there was a heated argument over the question of :
“Which is more radioactive, Potassium-40 prescribed by your doctor or Thorium-232 in the environment ?”
In fact, one professor and one radiation specialist claimed that potassium-40 is far LESS radioactive than Thorium-232 and they cited the EPA (environment protection agency of American) and the WHO UNSCEAR as proof of their statements!
One of my friends who stated that K-40 is about 62 times more radioactive than Thorium-232 was rubbished by the radiation specialist!
Well, that depends on what we are talking about.
Quote ” It was written somewhere above that potassium-40 is 62 times more radioactive than thorium. That is, I am sorry to note, a complete and utter rubbish:”
Unquote.
1. I think what my friend was thinking about is radioactivity in terms of Bq i.e. activity rather than biological effect (Sv) when he said potassium-40 is 62 times more radioactive than Thorium-232.
Pure Potassium-40 = 254,000 Bq/gram
Pure Thorium-232 = 4,080 Bq/gram
Therefore potassium-40 has about 62X more Bq than Thorium-232
*** Even in terms of biological effect, 1 gram of pure potassium-40 will still have a greater biological effect when compared with 1 gram of pure Thorium-232.
Pure Potassium-40 = 254,000 Bq/gram
Quote from radiation specialist: 1 Becquerel per gram of K-40 in the soil (should actually be 1 Bq of K-40 per gram of soil) results in an increase in gamma-levels by ~0.042 microSieverts per hour (WHO UNSCEAR). Unquote
Therefore 254,000 Bq = 10,668 microSieverts/hour
(from 1 gram of pure potassium-40 i.e. not mixed with K-39 and K-41)
*** Pure Thorium-232 = 4,080 Bq/gram
Quote from radiation specialist: Each becquerel per gram of Th-232 (should actually be 1 Bq of K-40 per gram of soil) increases this level by ~0.604 microSv/hour.
Therefore 4,080 Bq = 2,464 microSieverts/hour
10,668 microSv/hr divided by 2,464 microSv/hr = 4.33
or the biological effect of radiation from pure Potassium-40 is actually 4.33 times more than that of pure Thorium-232.
2. If we are talking about 1 gram of naturally occurring Potassium which contains only 0.0118% of K-40, then it is perfectly correct to say that Thorium-232 is more radioactive biologically than Potassium as the naturally occurring potassium has only 32 Bq per gram as compared to K-40 which has 254,000 Bq per gram. (But kindly refer to Dr Gary Kramer argument below.)
So 32 Bq of K = 1.344 microSieverts/hr while 4080 Bq of Thorium-232 = 2,464 microSieverts/hr which is far more biologically radioactive than Potassium.
3. If we compare radioactivity in terms of becquerel (number of atoms decaying per second), 1 Bq of course is equal to 1 Bq in terms of activity.
But in terms of PER Bq (radioactivity from only one nuclear decay) the biological effect, according to UNSCEAR, Potassium-40 and natural potassium is less radioactive biologically than Thorium-232 (but remember that 1 gm potassium-40 has 254,000 atomic decay per sec while 1 gm of Thorium-232 has only 4.080 atomic decay per second ).
SO, BEFORE YOU RUBBISH ANYONE FOR SAYING THAT POTASSIUM-4O IS MORE RADIOACTIVE THAN THORIUM-232 OR VICE VERSA, MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT.
It all depends on whether you are comparing activity (Bq) or biological effect (Sv), whether you are talking about pure potassium-40 or natural potassium which is composed of only 0.0118% highly radioactive K-40 and whether you are comparing Bq per gram of potassium-40 or Bq per gram of soil.
Moreover, we have to state that the Thorium-232 is not that of pure Thorium-232 as freshly isolated pure Thorium-232 do not produce any gamma rays and as such has practically no external biological effect (the 0.09 MeV of gamma rays in freshly isolated Thorium-232 actually comes from Radium-228 that comes from Thorium-228 which is cannot be chemically isolated from Thorium-232).
The same arguments apply to the comparison of the cancer coefficients of potassium-40 and Thorium-232.
In fact, the biological dose 1 metre from a large pile of Thorium-232 is actually 0.39 microSv/hr/Bq/ (IAEA). The figure given by UNSCEAR of 0.69 microSv/hr/Bq/ per gram of soil is for an infinite plain.
Quote: Dr. Gary H. Kramer, who is the Head of the National Internal Radiation Assessment Section at Health Canada and is a world authority in radioactivity in Potassium salts :
Quote: “Potassium chloride can be found in large quantities in stores selling materials for water treatment. The potassium content is about 500 g kg-
Typically, the material is sold in 20 kg bags so each bag contains ~600 kBq of 40K giving a concentration of 30 Bq g-1. This is well above the exclusion level yet the material is handled as non-radioactive.
The external dose rate in close proximity to a typical display in these types of shops would be about 150 microSv hr-1.
A worker would only need to be near the pile for about 7 hours to exceed the public dose limit of 1 mSv.” Unquote.
From the above statement from Dr Gary Kramer, who is a world authority in radioactivity in the Potash mines of Canada, and who also has a bone to pick with the UNSCEAR report, the biological dose from a large pile of KCl is 5 microSv/hr/Bq for K-40.
Since, the biological dose 1 metre from a large pile of Thorium-232 is only 0.39 microSv/hr/Bq/ (IAEA).
And the biological dose from a large pile of KCl is 5 microSv/hr/Bq for K-40,
so in terms of per Bq, K-40 is still far more biologically active than Th-232..
Dr Looi
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Quote MistyClarity • 1 week ago : ” There are other pollutants from the process that are equally harmful and disconcerting such as the acid fumes and lead poisoning – oh yes LEAD POISONING. One of the problems that was found from bukit merah rare-earth was the lead poisoning of young children and adults living in the vicinity of the factory.
LEAD IS THE FINAL END PRODUCT OF THE RADIOACTIVE DECAY.
Unquote.
Answer:
It will take 14 Billion years for half of the Thorium-232 to decay into Lead.
BUT YOU MUST REMEMBER THAT THE EARTH WILL BE SWALLOWED UP BY THE EXPANDING RED GIANT SUN IN ONLY ABOUT 5 BILLION YEARS !
EVEN LONG BEFORE THAT, IN ABOUT 1 BILLION YEARS FROM NOW YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL ALL BE BARBEQUED AND INCINERATED BY THE EVER INCREASING RADIATION OF THE RED GIANT SUN !
SO THERE IS NO NEED TO WORRY YOURSELF SICK ABOUT THE THORIUM-232 TURNING INTO LEAD AND POISON THE PEOPLE OF MALAYSIA AND YOUR CHILDREN !
EVERY LIVING THING INCLUDING YOUR DESCENDANTS WILL BE DEAD AND GONE LONG BEFORE THAT !
Dato’ Dr Looi
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Quote Fuad dated 3.10.12: “Thorium from Lynas is TENORM and a radioactive waste which has serious health risks. Lynas and AELB have made the TENORM sound like low level waste by merely diluting the waste until it conforms with IAEA regulations. Diluting does not make the radiation ‘go away’.” Unquote.
Answer:
The use of the term “TENORM” has gone out of fashion for quite a number of years but it looks like the Anti-Lynas folks have reintroduced it just recently.
TENORM has been defined as ” Technically ENHANCED Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material.”
Now:
ORE FOR LYNAS PLANT = 1,600 ppm of Thorium
TWO MOST VOLUMINOUS LYNAS “WASTE” = 12 ppm of Thorium
3rd RESIDUE STREAM = 1,500 ppm of Thorium
AVERAGE MALAYSIAN SOIL = 20 ppm OF THORIUM
Since the concentration of Thorium-232 is not ENHANCED or concentrated and the concentration of the ‘waste” is less than the original ore, IT IS RATHER SILLY TO CALL THE LYNAS “WASTE” A TENORM.
DILUTING A SUBSTANCE WILL NOT MAKE IT GO AWAY, BUT YOU MUST REMEMBER THAT IT IS AN INTERNATIONALLY LEGITIMATE AND ACCEPTED WAY FOR REDUCING ANY RADIONUCLIDE’S IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT.
For instance, STRYCHNINE IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS POISON AND YET WHEN PROPERLY DILUTED IT HAS BEEN USED FOR DECADES AS A TONIC !
CHORINE WHICH IS ALSO AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS POISON, WHEN WELL DILUTED IN WATER IS PERFECTLY SAFE AND IS DRUNK BY ALL THE ANTI-LYNAS FOLK IN THE FORM OF TAP WATER!
Perhaps this clarification by Nick Tsurikov will help.
QUOTE: “The funny bit about NORM/TENORM – as I’ve said many times before: the term ‘TENORM’ is meaningless and it’s use is discouraged internationally.
The example that I gave before, I think:
(a) I buy a truckload of sand mixed with gravel, but need to separate the two.
(b) Sand has 3 parts per million thorium, gravel – 30 parts per million; overall average = 10 ppm
(c) So I grab a shovel and throw the stuff through the metal mesh – sand goes through, gravel stays on my side.
So…
BY THE DEFINITION OF TENORM – I am ‘technical enhancing NORM’ and therefore, I am ‘generating’ horribly deadly TENORM – as the concentration of radioactivity in the final product (gravel) is THREE TIMES HIGHER than the background.
So – I need to be strictly controlled and cannot even buy the sand/gravel mix, until I’ll get licensed by the AELB and a dozen of other departments…
The point that I am trying to make is: it is completely irrelevant what we call the substance, we need to look what level of hazard is associated with it and how this level of ‘whatever it may be’ compares with national and international standards.
Basically, the definition of NORM, as I have in my course slides is mostly from the IAEA Safety Glossary:
Radioactive material containing no significant amounts of radionuclides other than naturally occurring radionuclides and designated in national law or by a regulatory body as being subject to regulatory control because of its radioactivity.
So it is actually up to the national regulators to decide what to regulate – IAEA suggests 1 Bq/gram of thorium and/or uranium, some countries have 0.5 Bq/g, others – for different materials – up to 10 Bq/g.
A point on the ‘waste’. If you do look through the Lynas RIA together with UN (not IAEA) reports
– you will clearly see that two most ‘voluminous’ residues from LAMP will have less than 12 parts per million of thorium
– and the average Malaysian soil – 20 parts per million of thorium.
That is the point.
Of course, the third ‘residue stream’ will have about 1500 ppm of thorium and will need to be managed appropriately.
UNQUOTE.
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah.
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London).
ROY PCK ASKS:
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Quote Roy Pck: ” http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-10-11/lynas-slumps-after-court-ruling-delays-output-sydney-mover share is falling over 15%..any good news?” Unquote.
TO ROY PCK……………………THERE WILL NOT BE ANY GOOD NEWS IF THE STAFF AND SHAREHOLDERS OF LYNAS CONTINUE TO ACT LIKE CIVILIZED GENTLEMEN !
THE ANTI LYNAS RED GUARDS HAVE DEPLOYED AN ARMY OF CYBER HARASSERS AND CYBER THUGS IN ALL THE MALAYSIAN BLOGS AND OTHER NEWS MEDIA TO INTIMIDATE ANYONE WHO OPPOSE THEM AND THEY ARE VERY SUCCESSFUL SO FAR.
VERY FEW PEOPLE DARE TO SPEAK UP, AND ALL THOSE WHO DARE TO DO SO ARE BEING INTIMIDATED, HARASSED AND BOYCOTTED BY THE BRAINWASHED ZOMBIES.
THE MAIN AIM OF THESE CYBER THUGS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH GETTING RID OF LYNAS, OR ANYTHING TO DO WITH HELPING CHINA MAINTAIN THEIR GRIP ON THE REE MARKET, BUT THEY ARE USING THIS GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY TO BRAINWASH AND INSTILL HATRED FOR THE PRESENT GOVERNMENT, THUS ENABLING THEM TO WIN THE COMING GENERAL ELECTION.
SO, THERE WILL BE NO GOOD NEWS UNLESS THE PRESENT STAFF AND SHAREHOLDERS OF LYNAS WAKE UP FROM THEIR DEEP SLUMBER AND FIGHT FOR THEIR RIGHTS !
Kindly note: I am not Pro or Anti Lynas or Pro or Anti Government BUT JUST AN ORDINARY CITIZEN OF MALAYSIA WHO IS NAUSEATED BY ALL THE LIES THAT ARE BEING PROPAGATED AND RADIATED BY THESE ANTI-LYNAS THUGS.
I AM REALLY NAUSEATED AND SAD THAT THERE ARE
HUMANS OR RATHER JUST OVERZEALOUS ZOMBIES IN THIS WORLD WHO WOULD RUN DOWN THEIR OWN COUNTRY BY CREATING A SCAPEGOAT IN AN ULTRA-MODERN CHEMICAL PLANT JUST FOR THE SAKE OF ENABLING THEIR MASTER BRAINWASHER TO GAIN A FEW EXTRA FILTHY VOTES IN THE COMING GENERAL ELECTION.
DO THEY CARE 2 HOOTS ABOUT THE 1,750 PEOPLE DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY EMPLOYED BY LYNAS AND WHOSE SALARIES OR INCOME ARE NEEDED TO PUT FOOD ON THE TABLES FOR THEIR FAMILIES TO SURVIVE?
DO THEY CARE WHETHER THESE POOR HARD WORKING INNOCENT FELLOW HUMANS HAVE A JOB AND A HOME AND FOOD FOR THEIR CHILDREN ?
ALL THEY THINK ABOUT IS TO DESTROY LYNAS AND STOP THE CONSTRUCTION ANY NEW PROJECTS WHICH PROVIDE JOBS, SHELTER, FOOD AND A DECENT LIFE FOR THE POOR PEOPLE……….WHILE THEY THEMSELVES HAVE A COZY JOB, SHELTER AND PLENTY OF FOOD FOR THEIR CHILDREN.
IF THESE BRAINWASHED ZOMBIES ARE SO CARING, WHY DON’T THEY PROVIDE THE JOBS AND PROVIDE THE FOOD AND SHELTER FOR THE POOR PEOPLE INSTEAD OF JUST EMPTY TALK !
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK) MRCP(London)
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http://kickdefella.net/2012/04/17/lynas-negligible-radiation-but-only-toxic-chemical-waste/#more-5242
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Since the average absorbed Beta energy of K-40 decay is 499 keV and the average absorbed Gamma energy is 156 keV,
THE INTERNAL DOSAGE from K-40 ~ 0.24 mSv/yr:
(120x Lynas worst case scenario)
What this means is that the anti-lynas folks like Karl Ngun, Jeffri Chang and Jason Lee are vociferously complaining about the radiation from ONE LYNAS PLANT IN GEBENG WHEN THERE ARE THE EQUIVALENT OF 120 LYNAS PLANTS IN THE FORM OF POTASSIUM-40 producing radiation right inside their bodies!
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Journal of Nuclear and Related Technology
1. THE ANNUAL DOSE RATE EXPOSURE
FROM MALAYSIAN CLAY BRICK HOUSE = 0.43 mSv/year
(215 x Lynas Worst Case Scenario)
2. SLEEPING IN WOODEN HOUSE = 0.20 mSv/yr
(100x Lynas worst case)
3. SLAG BRICK AND GRANITE HOUSE = up to 2.0 mSv/yr
(1,000x Lynas worst case)
SO TO ALL ANTI-LYNAS FOLKS, YOU SHOULD PITCH UP A TENT NEXT TO THE LYNAS PLANT AND SEND YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY TO LIVE NEXT TO LYNAS AS THIS IS HUNDREDS OF TIMES LESS RADIOACTIVE THAN LIVING IN YOUR PRESENT WOODEN OR BRICK HOUSES !
4. SLEEPING NEXT TO SOMEONE for 8 hrs/day
(e.g. your wife) = 0.02 mSv (UNSCER, IAEA)
(10x Lynas worst case)
AND DON’T SLEEP WITH YOUR WIFE OR HUSBAND FOR THAT IS LIKE SLEEPING NEXT TO 10 LYNAS PLANTS!
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London)
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Dose in worst case scenario within 1 km of Lynas plant = 0.002 mSv/yr
Monazite Ore in Tin Tailings or Amang = 284 Bq/g or 69,608 ppm.
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Sunday at 3:02am • Like • 2
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Quote Monica Gasch: “If Williams comments are representative of SMSL they must be a very uneducated little group. Why repeat the same lies over & over? Repeating it does not make it true.” Unquote.
Comments:
Agree fully with Monica’s comments but members of the SMSL clique are using the same brainwashing techniques used by that devious demonic master brainwasher before and during the 2nd World War i.e. Hitler.
Brainwashing techniques are based on the consistently persistent repetition of propaganda focused on just a few issues and continuously repeated in a slightly different way.
According to Adolf Hitler in- “War Propaganda”, in volume 1, chapter 6 of Mein Kampf (1925)
“But the most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly and with unflagging attention. It must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over. Here, as so often in this world, persistence is the first and most important requirement for success.” Unquote.
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London)
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Have a look at this article in the STAR Newspaper
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2012%2F11%2F5%2Fnation%2F20121105133859&sec=nation
PROMINENT KUANTAN DOCTOR RUBBISHES CONCERNS OVER LYNAS’ RADIOACTIVITY
KUANTAN: A prominent Pahang doctor has rubbished concerted “lies” spread by the Opposition among local residents on radioactive concerns from the recently completed RM2.5bil Lynas rare earth plant here, saying that the anti-
Lynas campaign was purely politically motivated to win votes in the coming general election.
Datuk Dr Looi Hoong Wah, a consultant physician with 40 years of interest in nuclear medicine and particle physics, said the anti-Lynas activists had been brainwashing the people here for the last two years despite the fact that there would be “absolutely no radiation waste or any toxic waste whatever” from the plant.
Lynas’ safety was verified by six independent bodies, including the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the world’s highest authority for atomic energy.
The substance they bring in is just nothing but rare earth containing a tiny bit of weak radioactive thorium 232.
That is an extremely weak sort of radioactive substance and it has a very long life of tens of billions of years.
And all this anti-Lynas people say…oh our great-great grandchildren are going to suffer for 14 billion years. This is absolutely rubbish,” he said. Dr Looi said if one were to look at the half-life of radioactive material (the time required for a quantity to fall to half its value), the longer the half-life, the less dangerous it would be.
For instance, if half of a house is burned down in 14 billion years, will it cause any problem? No, it won’t cause any problem because there is only a tiny fire, whereas if it is burned down in 14 minutes, then a lot of people will get killed or injured.
The same thing with lead, the one we use in our car batteries. It has a long half-life as well of 19 million billion years. “Because it has such a long half life, it is practically non-radioactive when you use it in your cars. So thorium is very weak radioactively,” he said
Asked how he got interested in nuclear science and particle physics, Dr Looi said he developed an interest when he was a medical student in Manchester about 40 years ago as one of his tutors was a nuclear physicist.
He said he had put thorium in his hand without any side-effects till today because alpha particles from thorium, when released outside will combine with electrons to produce helium gas, just like the one used to fill balloons, which was completely harmless.
Dr Looi reckoned that it was purely for political reasons that the Opposition was trying to work everybody up about the Lynas plant in Gebeng.
The thorium 232 or decay products produce only a tiny bit of electron, which is electricity.
It doesn’t cause any problem. You find that Lynas’ radiation, once you are outside of the boundaries of the plant, the radiation is zero.
There is no instrument on this earth which is sensitive enough to pick it up,” he said.
Dr Looi said the disinformation on the Lynas bordered on ridiculous assertions because even in a human body there was radioactivity as well due to potassium, which doctors give to patients to control the intake of salt in hypertension and other cases.
Even in our body, we have about 4,400 becquerel (Bq) whereas the Lynas waste and ore contain less than 6 Bq per gram.
“This is already 124 times more than the Lynas worst case scenario. So why complain about a Lynas plant in Gebeng here when there are 124 Lynas plants in your body producing radioactivity?” he added.
Asked on the effects on workers, he said what they could possibly get was only less than 20 percent of the permitted dosage.
Dr Looi also quoted Dr Nick Tsurikov, the international radiation specialist, as saying that there was no radiation risk whatsoever as far as the Lynas plant was concerned.
He also said that opposition to the plant should take into account that more than 1,000 quality jobs were at stake and these are people with families for them to put food on the table.
“Once you have a rare earth plant around, (other) companies will come, like Siemens (which) is planning to come in and make use of the rare earth. They will produce thousands more jobs because of the spill-over effects,” he said.
Dr Looi appealed to non-governmental organisations and the Opposition to “wake up” and realise that the Lynas plant would be of great benefit to the country.
“You can brainwash people for some time but you can’t brainwash them forever,” he said. – Bernama
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Quote Bernama: “Lynas plant of international standard, operations to benefit economy.
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KUANTAN (Nov 4, 2012): Workers of the Lynas Advanced Materials Plant (LAMP) here are steadfast that the first rare earth plant in the country is compliant with international safety standards and that its operations will benefit the economy and local population.
According to Lynas Malaysia Sdn Bhd engineer Chin Yin Yee, her health will not be at risk, noting that the plant was built according to international safety standards and given the green light by the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“I don’t have any doubts on the safety of the plant. It is very frustrating when we are trying to explain to people that the plant is fine but people do not want to listen. They prefer to go with their misconception,” she said.
Chin said despite the negative publicity and concerns raised with regards to the safety of the plant, her family members had given her full support from the time she decided to join LAMP four years ago.
She noted that the rare earth industry was expanding worldwide as many components such as hybrid cars, batteries, bulbs and magnets needed the material in their manufacturing processes.
“Downstream industries will boom with the operations of the Lynas plant. It will be a loss to the country without it. A lot of people will also lose their jobs. It is going to be very sad,” Chin added.
The LAMP operation is expected to bring substantial economic benefits as it will create 400 skilled jobs plus a multiplier effect of five times in secondary jobs through the economic ecosystem. It will also have 200 permanent contract workers and 1,000 indirect workers providing services to its facility.
Chin said the chain reaction to LAMP’s operations would be an increase in job opportunities via supporting industries, noting that more food outlets, contractors and businesses located near the Gebeng industrial area would also benefit.
The senior manager of engineering services at LAMPS, Abdul Rahman Mohamad Ali, said he was happy to be employed by the company and it came as a shock to him that the matter of safety was politicised to an extent that it could jeopardise their livelihoods.
“The fear of Lynas came about because it was not based on facts. The fact is Lynas is safe,” he said.
“My family is supportive of my decision to work at Lynas. There is a lot of fear out there but I am convinced we know what we are doing here and international safety measures are in place.
“I really hope Lynas can start operations so that my family can have peace of mind and my three children can continue their studies here. If Lynas cannot begin operations, many people will be out of jobs and investors will be afraid to come to Malaysia. Our industries will not grow,” he added.
Echoing him, Abdul Rahman’s wife, Rozita Md Yassin, said she was initially worried about her husband’s safety but having gained a clearer understanding about the rare earth industry, she understood that all the fears were unfounded.
“I hope all those who created the rumours that the plant is unsafe, will stop spreading untruths. They affect the lives of many people,” she said.
Meanwhile, Azlin Zawawi, a technician, said the danger of radiation has been blown out of proportion.
“Just like any other factory, there are safety measures in place. Safety is of the utmost priority. I hope all those parties out to smear Lynas will stop. As a wage earner who has to support a wife and child, why would I want to endanger myself if the plant was hazardous?” he asked.
“Lynas is the first rare earth plant in Malaysia. It is bringing in new technology and should be given a chance before condemning it. If it succeeds, there will be other industries linked to rare earth which will grow. Perhaps Malaysia can be among the largest producers of rare earth,” Azlin said.
Superintendent Zaini Sabidin said what the Kuantan community fears is far from reality.
“I have been to rare earth plants in China and Lynas is modern and safer with better safety and engineering policies. The issue of safety has been played up in the interests of specific parties which will jeopardise the rice bowls of at least 1,000 families.
“Lynas has been transparent about its safety. It has also installed a 24-hour monitoring service open to public viewing to check on any potential pollutants,” he said.
Datuk Dr Looi Hoong Wah, a resident of Kuantan and a medical specialist who took up an interest in nuclear medicine and particle physics some 40 years ago when he was a medical student in Manchester, said what was dangerous is the political play by some people on Lynas.
Stressing that LAMPS radioactive rays are close to zero, he added: “They have to wake up and realise that this plant is of great benefit to the whole country. People’s jobs are at stake. Don’t destroy their jobs. You may have a nice, comfortable job at home, don’t go around destroying other people’s jobs. That’s not a way to win an election.
“All these are good quality jobs, for people especially from the kampung area. They need the jobs to feed their children. It is very unfair to break their rice bowls.
“Some people are telling us to get rid of Lynas. Who is going to feed the children of these 1,750 people? They have families, they need work. In Malaysia we don’t have any special social security. Good jobs are very difficult to come by,” said Dr Looi.
Explaining about radiation, he said there was no risk of radiation exposure. In a worse case scenario, he said “the radiation you get from a wooden house you live in is almost 100 times more radioactive than living next to Lynas.”
“Living in a brick house exposes you to 200 times more radioactivity than living next to Lynas in a tent,” Dr Looi said of the safety features of the plant and of the radioactive elements of wood and bricks.” – Bernama
Dr Looi
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Quote Amus: ” According to AELB (Atomic Energy Licensing Board’s standard), the radioactive threshold for K-40 is 100 Bq/g whereas it is 1 Bq/g for thorium-232. This implies that K-40 is 100 times less hazardous than Th-232.” Unquote.
Answer:
Even Dr. Gary H. Kramer, who is the Head of the National Internal Radiation Assessment Section at Health Canada and a world authority in radioactivity in Potassium salts, has a bone to pick with IAEA and ICRP with the above statement and is perplexed by the reason for downgrading the biological effect of K-40.
Since the average absorbed Beta energy of K-40 decay is 499 keV and the average absorbed Gamma energy is 156 keV, it can be easily calculated that the constant INTERNAL DOSAGE FROM K-40 IS IN THE RANGE OF 0.17 to 0.24 mSv/yr WHICH IS HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT AND IS ABOUT 120 TIMES THAT OF LYNAS WORST CASE SCENARIO OF 0.002 mSv/yr.
Note: The total internal dose from the NORMs in the body is about 0.42 mSv/yr with K-40 (4,400 Bq) contributing about 0.17 to 0.24 mSv/yr and the rest by C-14 (3,000 Bq) and other trace radionuclides.
If anybody wants to know more about this, they could read Dr Kramer’s letter to the IAEA with regards to this problem.
Quote Dr Kramer: “40K: Potassium is the 7th most abundant element on the earth’s surface and plays an integral part in life.
Reference Man (ICRP 1975) contains 140 g of potassium of which 0.0117% is the radioactive 40K, which means there is about 17 mg of 40K.
The activity of 17 mg 40K is approximately 4.4 kBq (or 0.06 Bq g-1) WHICH GIVES AN ANNUAL DOSE OF ~ 0.2 mSv.
Comparing these values with Table S2 one sees that the 40K in humans is well below the proposed exclusion level of 10 Bq g-1 but is 20 times larger than the IAEA’s 10 microSv exclusion dose.
If one assumes that the exclusion dose is harmless, then is a dose that is 20 times larger still harmless? It appears so as we live with this normally.
Potassium chloride can be found in large quantities in stores selling materials for water treatment. The potassium content is about 500 g kg-1.
Typically, the material is sold in 20 kg bags so each bag contains ~600 kBq of 40K giving a concentration of 30 Bq g-1.
This is well above the exclusion level yet the material is handled as non-radioactive. The external dose rate in close proximity to a typical display in these types of shops would be about 150 microSv hr-1.
A worker would only need to be near the pile for about 7 hours to exceed the public dose limit of 1 mSv.
Contrast 40K with the other exclusion level for ƒÀ/ƒÁ emitters (i.e., 0.1 Bq g-1).
When one considers that foods like bananas and potatoes exceed this level (~0.16 Bq g-1) it becomes clearer why the ICRP had to make a special case for 40K (the IAEA exempted 40K within the human body from consideration).
The question remains why the emissions of 40K (ƒÀ: 1.31 MeV max and 0.51 MeV ave; ƒÁ: 1.46 MeV) can be considered to be less harmful than other beta emitters by a factor of a 100?”
Unquote.
Dr Looi
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QUOTE AMUS on 11.11.12: “IF THORIUM IS NOT SOLUBLE AND HAS STRONG AFFINITY WITH CLAY … AND HAS NO WAY OF GETTING INTO OUR BODY.. COULD THE GOOD DOCTOR EXPLAIN THE TRAGIC INCIDENT IN BUKIT MERAH ?” Unquote.
ANSWER:
Quote Nick Tsurikov, International Radiation Safety Expert and Co-author of IAEA Radiation Safety Report:
“THORIUM IN ‘WASTE’ IS INSOLUBLE AND CANNOT POISON ANY PLANTS, ANIMALS OR THE ENVIRONMENT – EVEN IN THEORY.” Unquote.
In Bukit Merah, the radiation comes from Thorium and Uranium which are our own and has been in Malaysia for billions of years.
Although the radiation level is well over 37 times that of the Lynas waste, there is no definite well controlled scientific proof that the cases of leukaemia and birth defects are caused by radiation from the waste.
COMPARISON OF RADIOACTIVITY IN Bq (Specific activity.. number of atoms decaying in 1second)
Pure Thorium-232 = 4,080 Bq/gm
Pure Potassium-40 = 254,000 Bq/gm
Naturally Occurring Potassium (3 different isotopes) in our body and food = 31.825 Bq/gm
Artificially created Plutonium-238 = 634,000,000,000 Bq/gm (1/2 life=87.7 years)
Monazite ore from Amang or Tin Tailings in Malaysia = 284 Bq/gm
Lynas Rare Earth Waste = 6 Bq/gm
Public dose limits for exposure from uranium mining or nuclear plants are usually set at 1 mSv per year above background.
According to the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement (NCRP) and its international counterpart, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). Both of these organizations offer recommendations for the maximum permissible dose (MPD) of radiation.
General Public annual MPD by both NCRP and ICRP is 1 mSv.
For Radiation Workers, the annual MPD is 50 mSv (NCRP) and 20 mSv (ICRP), with a cumulative MPD of 10 mSv x Age.
MPD during pregnancy is 5 mSv (NCRP) and 2 mSv (ICRP).
However, experts including Professor Wade Allison of Oxford University argue that the dose limit can safely be raised to 100 millisieverts, based on current health statistics.
Compare this with the dose of 0.002 millisieverts/year of exposure for people living within 1 km of the Lynas plant in the worst case scenario (estimated by Lynas).
I have seen lots of cases of leukaemia and other types of cancer as well as birth defects over the last 40 years or so and unfortunately we do not have Lynas around at that time to use as a scapegoat.
Unscrupulous people have been using videos and pictures of patients with congenital abnormalities and other illnesses to instil fear into the population. There is absolutely no scientific proof that these cases are caused by radiation.
Only people with ulterior motives would use pictures and videos of these unfortunate patients whose disorders have nothing to do with radiation to score political points!
In the south of the state of Kerala in India the soil contains as much as 4,000 ppm (parts of Thorium per million). Studies have shown that there is little or no accumulation of Thorium-232 in the inhabitants.
The Lynas waste contains only 1,650 ppm.
It has been estimated that in the worst case scenario, the radiation risk from the Lynas plant is only 0.002 mSv/yr.
In Ramsar, Iran, the naturally occurring radiation
is extremely high at 260 mSv/yr.
This is 13,000,000% higher than the expected worse case scenario in Kuantan.
And the people in Ramsar, Iran has been found to be healthier and live longer than the rest of the Iranians! There is also no increase in the number of cancer cases.
Remember the Tin slag from the Eastern Smelting and Straits Trading in Penang ? These, which contain the tantalum and monazite ore, and the monazite ore can be more than 3,700 % more radioactive than the Lynas waste.
And these radioactive tin slag were used to fill up the old Penang Stadium and the roads in Penang. A lot of these has already been stolen and sold off at a huge profit, but a lot still remains in the roads in Butterworth and Penang island.
The people in Penang have not developed Cancer so far as a result of these slag!
The anti-Lynas people who are so paranoid about imported radiation from Australia should have a look at this paper published in the Malaysian Journal of Analytical Sciences which showed that the level of radiation in areas where tin was mined. The waste or amang contains high levels of Monazite and other minerals which are highly radioactive.
All these old tin mine areas are well populated. Note even Kuala Lumpur is also an ex-tin mining area.
The study which was done University Technology MARA in Kg Gajah in Perak showed:
Quote: “The level of surface dose varies from one location to another, but there is a critical area which has a significantly high surface dose approaching 30 microSv/hr” Unquote
30 microSv/hr is about 260 mSv/year or about the same level as the highest recorded area in Ramsar!.
Even ordinary Sand (crystalline silica, SiO2) is classified as a group 1 Carcinogen (a confirmed cancer causing agent), but as you know, we do not expect a huge number of people in living in the deserts or along the seashores to die from silica induced lung cancer.
The lung cancer risk occurs only when fine sand (silica) is inhaled by miners for a prolonged period in the quarries and mines i.e. silica is not a carcinogen when ingested and of course not when injected for nobody would allow you to inject sand into their veins.
Thorium-232 is a very weakly radioactive substance and produces only alpha particles which cannot even penetrate a thin piece of paper.
All you have to do is to wrap it up in a piece of newspaper and it is for all intents and purposes, non-radioactive !
” Thorium-232 is considered to be a carcinogen only IF ADMINISTERED INTRAVENOUSLY AS A COLLOIDAL DISPERSION OF THORIUM-232 DIOXIDE.”
It is not considered to be a cancer causing substance if taken orally or inhaled according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer IARC, just like silica (sand) which is not carcinogenic if ingested.
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London)
*
*
THE MOTHER OF ALL LIES AND GRANDMOTHER OF ALL EXAGGERATION !!!
*
QUOTE: “Ng Ngah Lynn: ” It will produce 99,000 normal m cube of gas per hour, released in to the air
(The gas is named Radon. Highly toxic and dangerous!) Unquote.
Since:
1. Lynas is expected to produce about 130 tonnes of Th-232 per year
2. Specific activity of Th-232 = 4,080 Bq/gm
3. Atomic weight of Radon-220 = 220
4. Avogadro number = 6.023×10 to the power of 23
5. The gm molecular weight of a gas occupies 22.4 litres at STP
It can easily be calculated that if we start with a pile of 130 tons of
Thorium-232, at equilibrium the volume of Radon-220 produced per hour is
only = about 710 litres or 0.710 CUBIC METRES
PER HOUR AND NOT 99,000 CUBIC METRES PER HOUR !
THIS ANTI-LYNAS ZEALOT HAS OVERESTIMATED THE VOLUME OF RADON-220 GAS BY ALMOST 14,000,000 % !
THIS IS TRUELY THE MOTHER OF ALL LIES AND GRANDMOTHER OF ALL EXAGGERATION !!!
AND MOREOVER, THE HALF LIFE OF RADON-220 IS ONLY 55 SECONDS.
As such only a tiny amount of Radon-220 (a.k.a. Thoron) within a few centimetres of the surface of a huge pile of waste will be able to live long enough to escape from the pile and see the light of day!
OUTSIDE THE BOUNDARIES OF THE LYNAS SETUP THERE IS NOT ENOUGH RADON-220 GAS TO TICKLE EVEN THE BACKSIDE OF A NEWBORN CATERPILLAR !
A lot of people have mistaken Radon-220 from Thorium-232 decay series with the more notorious Radon-222 which has a much longer half life of 3.8 days. Radon-222 comes from Uranium-238 decay series.
Because of its much longer half life, Radon-222 can and do accumulate in the cellars and poorly ventilated areas of domestic dwellings. Radon-222 is the gas that has been linked to lung cancers in especially non-smokers.
So please do not blame poor Thorium-232. It does not produce any Radon-222 and as such is not guilty of radon induced lung cancers.
The radiation of 6 Bq/gm from the weakly radioactive Thorium-232 in the Lynas waste is so low that even IAEA do not consider it significant and as such can be transported without any special permission.
Dato’ Dr Looi
*
*
THE POWER OF DEMONIC HITLER’S BRAINWASHING TECHNIQUE
Sample of chants by ant-Lynas Betty Lee and Nancy Yee:
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Say ‘ NO ‘ to lynas
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Say ‘ NO ‘ to lynas
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Say ‘ NO ‘ to lynas
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Say ‘ NO ‘ to lynas
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Say ‘ NO ‘ to lynas
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Say ‘ NO ‘ to lynas
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Say ‘ NO ‘ to lynas
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42 minutes ago • Like
Nancy Yee Say ‘ NO ‘ to lynas
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Say ‘ NO ‘ to lynas
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Say ‘ NO ‘ to lynas
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Say ‘ NO ‘ to lynas
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continued in all the threads of Lynas Facebook!
(Note: These brainlessly repeated phrases were thankfully deleted by the Lynas Moderator)
The above are one of the few phrases ingrained into the innocent brains of naive victims by the demonic master brainwasher whose sole aim is purely political in nature.
This is, in fact, a form of ECHOLALIA which is usually found in patients with developmental defects or those with a form of psychiatric disorder, but hey can also be seen in people who are severely brainwashed.
KUANTAN IS NOW INFESTED BY THESE BRAINWASHED LOONIES WHOSE SOLE REASON FOR EXISTING IS TO MASSAGE THE EGO OF THEIR SUPREMELY EGOISTIC AND DEMONIC MASTER BRAINWASHER AND ENABLE HIM OR HER TO WIN THE NEXT GENERAL ELECTION !
YOU MAY ALSO NOTICE THAT PRACTICALLY ALL THE IMPORTANT BLOGS IN THE WHOLE OF THE CYBERSPACE OF MALAYSIA HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED BETWEEN 3 TO 5 PROFESSIONAL CYBER HARASSERS HIRED TO COMBAT THE TRUTH AND ASK SILLY QUESTIONS, NOT FOR THE PURPOSE OF INTELLECTUAL BENEFIT BUT RATHER SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSE OF CYBER HARASSMENT AND CYBER THUGGERY.
THE MASTER BRAINWASHERS HAVE IMMENSE WEALTH AND ARE USING THE LYNAS ISSUE TO INGRAIN HATRED TO THE PRESENT ADMINISTRATION FOR PURELY POLITICAL REASONS.
The masters of these zombie loonies are actually well verse with the techniques used by the greatest and most demonic of all the brainwashers and manipulators i.e. Hitler himself!
Brainwashing techniques are based on the consistently persistent repetition of propaganda focused on just a few issues and continuously repeated in a slightly different way.
According to Adolf Hitler in- “War Propaganda”, in volume 1, chapter 6 of Mein Kampf (1925)
“BUT THE MOST BRILLIANT PROPAGANIST TECHNIQUE WILL YIELD NO SUCCESS UNLESS ONE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE IS BORNE IN MIND CONSTANTLY AND WITH UNFLAGGING ATTENTION. IT MUST CONFINE ITSELF TO A FEW POINTS AND REPEAT THEM OVER AND OVER. HERE, AS SO OFTEN IN THIS WORLD, PERSISTENCE IS THE FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANT REQUIREMENT FOR SUCCESS.” Unquote.
Since brainwashing techniques are based on the consistently persistent repetition of propaganda, the only consistently effective way to de-brainwash a brainwashed brain is to repeatedly, consistently AND PERSISTENTLY shower the brainwashed folks with the same FACTS and TRUTH, displayed in slightly different ways.
There are 4 stages in this Hitler type of brainwashing procedure:
1. DISSEMINATION OF PROPAGANDA (usually well camouflaged lies)
2. HARASSMENT OF NON-BELIEVERS
3. INTIMIDATION OF DISSIDENTS and
4. ELIMINATION OF THE OBSTINATE DISSIDENTS
At present they have been hindered by a tiny group of dissidents in Kuantan and they are now blocked at stage 3.
In Malaysia people have been intimidated and harassed for opposing them and I for one has been threatened and bombarded with four letter words and showered with EXPLETIVES, VULGARITIES AND OBSCENITIES THAT WILL MAKE EVEN A HARDEN PORN ACTOR BLUSH !
One poor soul was even made to kneel before these nincompoops to ask for forgiveness, for mentioning what these thugs were unwilling to hear.
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London)
*
Quote: “Sandrinah Soo -
-
SMSL is caught telling lies again…. (see evidence below)….”
http://sphotos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/430735_221206784679946_1924075553_n.jpg
http://kickdefella.net/2012/04/17/lynas-negligible-radiation-but-only-toxic-chemical-waste/#more-5242
Have a look at this article in the Sun Newspaper
BEST TO USE COMMON SENSE
Posted on 20 November 2012 – 03:11am
Azman Ujang
THE picture on the front page of Utusan Malaysia on Nov 9 says it all. It shows hundreds of workers from the Lynas Advanced Material Plant in Kuantan kneeling and giving thanks because the plant can now begin its long-delayed operations.
They shed tears of joy outside the High Court building after Justice Datuk Mariana Yahya rejected an application filed by three Kuantan residents for an interim injunction on the plant’s temporary operating licence (TOL).
Clad in their yellow factory uniforms, the workers displayed banners like “Don’t disturb our rice pot”, “Who will feed our children?”, “Stop slandering Lynas”, “I really love Lynas”, and “Kuantan Lynas will be the national green technology centre”.
The words on the banners are loaded with strong messages that tell people campaigning against Lynas to stop as claims that the rare earth plant will cause health and safety risks have been declared baseless.
Lynas’s safety was verified by the Atomic Energy Licensing Board that granted the TOL and even by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which sent an inspection team to the plant as well as by other independent bodies. The IAEA is the highest authority for atomic energy.
And the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM), an independent science think-tank whose 226 fellows are accomplished scientists, in welcoming the High Court verdict, said that “rare earths have been vindicated”.
ASM Fellow Ahmad Ibrahim, in his column in the New Straits Times, said the interesting part about the anti-Lynas campaign is that most of those against the project are not even residents of Gebeng near Kuantan where the plant is located.
“Their baseless campaign on the plant’s health and safety risks is now exposed,” he declared, adding that interviews of residents in the neighbourhood have further confirmed public acceptance of the project.
He rubbished the anti-Lynas campaign by saying that from the technology scanning that ASM regularly undertakes, rare earths have emerged as offering tremendous potential in the new expanding green economy.
Scientists have uncovered the unique role of rare earths in many applications to improve the efficient use of energy, which is a crucial agenda in the global effort to fight climate change. In China, which accounts of some 97% of the world’s rare earth production, the strategic nature of rare earths had long been recognised by their leaders which explains why the country has invested so much into rare earths.
Ahmad said the demand for rare earths is projected to explode in the coming years in line with the growing demand for more efficient communication systems, while mobility and miniaturisation, which feature prominently in telecommunication equipment, also rely on rare earths.
From Day One, prominent Kuantan physician Datuk Dr Looi Hoong Wah, who has some 40 years of expertise in nuclear medicine and particle physics, has been saying that there would be “absolutely no radiation waste or any toxic waste whatsoever from the Lynas plant”.
With Lynas now given the go ahead by the court to start production, we are going to see the multiple economic spin-offs, including attracting more investments from buyers of rare earth and joint-venture partners including Siemens from Germany which has pledged more than RM1.5 billion to operate a plant that will hire 1,200 workers.
Meanwhile, two acid companies investing RM300 million and employing 100 staff began operations recently to supply acid to Lynas.
Dr Looi is so incensed with the anti-Lynas campaign that he asked: “Who is going to feed the children of these 1,750 Lynas workers? They have families. In Malaysia, we don’t have any special social security and good jobs are hard to come by.”
On the larger picture, Lynas, Australia’s biggest investment in Malaysia, can produce up to RM8 billion worth of exports annually, adding much needed value to the gross national product (GNP).
What it means is that when GNP goes up by RM8 billion, the government can print RM8 billion worth of money to further stimulate the economy.
So in the face of all this, why are some people, including opposition politicians, still wasting so much time and resources, including the court’s precious time, pursuing their anti-Lynas campaign when their claims have been proven to have no scientific, economic and environmental basis?
To people like Dr Looi, the campaign was purely political especially with the general election looming.
He might have some basis for saying so because on the political front, the most outspoken Lynas critic is first-term Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh from Parti Keadilan Rakyat. The opposition MP is of course eyeing to be re-elected.
Just consider this – why would Australian investors spend as much as RM2.5 billion to set up the plant if it is hazardous to health as claimed by the “Save Malaysia Stop Lynas” activists?
If these activists use their common sense, they should be able to understand that it doesn’t make sense for investors to build a plant only to see their workers falling sick one by one until the factory has to close.
These activists are doing a great disservice to the people of Kuantan, the country at large and of course to Lynas because for every day of delay in production, the company makes huge losses.
We can draw some parallel to this campaign with many Malaysians who over the years have lost millions, squandering their life savings and pawning their future after falling victim to sweet-talking fraudsters.
We are all too familiar with such stories published by newspapers after the victims have met people like the indefatigable Datuk Seri Michael Chong, who heads the MCA Public Service and Complaints Department.
When they get to people like Chong, they would normally have already lost virtually every thing.
And of late, despite the best efforts of the media to educate the people, more and more are falling into the same traps, no thanks to the abuse of social networking media. When will they ever learn?
While Lynas deals with rare earths, it’s most appropriate for Malaysians to stock up their common sense, which is still a rare commodity among so many.
Azman Ujang is a former editor-in-chief of Bernama.
http://www.thesundaily.my/news/544826
*
*
BE ON YOUR GUARD AGAINST THE SLIMY, SNEAKY, SLEAZY ANTI-LYNAS RED GUARDS!
SEE HOW THE ANTI-LYNAS RED GUARDS TRY TO MISLEAD THE NAIVE PEOPLE OF MALAYSIA BY SAYING THAT THE LEAD-21O AND POLONIUM-210 IN TOBACCO FROM Thorium-232 causes cancer.
LEAD-210 AND POLONIUM-210 are from the URANIUM-238 DECAY SERIES AND HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THORIUM-232 OR THORIUM-228 ! ! !
I repeat:
Lead-210, Polonium-210, Thorium-230, Radium-226 and Radon-222 are from the URANIUM-238 DECAY SERIES AND HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THORIUM-232 OR THORIUM-228.
THORIUM-232 PRODUCES ONLY POLONIUM-216 WITH A HALF LIFE OF ONLY 0.14 SECONDS AND POLONIUM 212 WITH A HALF LIFE OF ONLY 30 MICROSECONDS.
The Thorium-232 decay series also include Lead-212 (half-life of 10.6 hrs) and the stable, “non-radioactive” Lead-208 with a half life of 19 million billion years.
SO THE WELL WRITTEN ARTICLE BY THE AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY HAS ABSOLUTELY NO RELEVANCE AND DOES NOT APPLY TO THORIUM-232 WHICH IS FOUND IN SMALL QUANTITIES IN THE LYNAS ORE AND SO-CALLED “WASTE”.
And yet the Anti-Lynas Red Guards try to make use of an irrelevant scientific article to try to mislead the naive people.
HOW SNEAKY AND SLEAZY CAN THEY BE ?
Quote Chon Yan:
“看看这是美国人经过吸烟，吸收了辐射剂量而患癌的年度报告，而这辐射粒子就是稀土废料里的“钍232”所释放出来的辐射元素。
2012， American Cancer Society, Inc., Surveillance Research
How does radioactive material get into a cigarette?
The tobacco leaves used in making cigarettes contain radioactive material, particularly lead-210 and polonium-210. The radionuclide content of tobacco leaves depends heavily on soil conditions and fertilizer use.
Soils that contain elevated radium lead to high radon gas emanations rising into the growing tobacco crop. Radon rapidly decays into a series of solid, highly radioactive metals (radon decay products). These metals cling to dust particles which in turn are collected by the sticky tobacco leaves.
The sticky compound that seeps from the trichomes is not water soluble, so the particles do not wash off in the rain. There they stay, through curing process, cutting, and manufacture into cigarettes
Lead-210 and Polonium-210 can be absorbed into tobacco leaves directly from the soil. But more importantly, fine, sticky hairs (called trichomes) on both sides of tobacco leaves grab airborne radioactive particles.” Unquote.
Dr Looi
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/11/26/nation/12370820&sec=nation
http://aliran.com/archives/monthly/2002/6e.html
*
*
Quote Davin Tan: “……those radioactive waste, is a common sense it is harmful, even Australia
are not willing to accept it.” Unquote.
Comment:
It is illogical to say that Australia refused to accept those so-called “waste” because it is harmful.
THE AUSTRALIANS REFUSED TO ACCEPT IT AS A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE.
FOR INSTANCE, MALAYSIA HAS A LOT OF OIL PALM FACTORIES AND PLANTATIONS IN INDONESIA.
IF INDONESIA WERE TO INSIST THAT THE WASTES FROM ALL MALAYSIAN OIL PALM FACTORIES AS WELL AS ALL THE WASTES FROM THE PLANTANTIONS MUST BE SENT BACK TO MALAYSIA,
WOULD MALAYSIA BE STUPID ENOUGH TO AGREE TO SUCH A DEMAND ?
MOREOVER, WE HAVE A LOT OF STUDENTS AND TOURISTS IN AUSTRALIA.
IF AUSTRALIA WERE STUPID ENOUGH TO INSIST THAT THE POO AND URINE OF ALL THESE STUDENTS AND TOURISTS (please note: poo and urine are radioactive because of the high potassium content) MUST BE SENT BACK TO MALAYSIA BEFORE WE ARE ALLOWED TO SEND OUR STUDENTS AND TOURISTS THERE,
WOULD THE MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENT AGREE ?
SO DO NOT BE SO UNREASONABLE AND EXPECT AUSTRALIA TO TAKE BACK THE “WASTES” FROM PLANTS THAT HAS EXPORTED THEIR JOBS TO OTHER COUNTRIES …. THEY ARE ALREADY FEELING VERY SORE ABOUT THESE “UNPATRIOTIC” COMPANIES.
Dato’ Dr Looi,
*
http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/kb-council-won-t-let-hair-down-on-enforcement-1.178328
http://aliran.com/archives/monthly/2002/6e.html
Quote Mahesvaran Mahadevan 06.12.12 : ” u brought lynas to parliment, the won, then to court lynas won the case. what some more. this already prove lynas is safe. I AM CONFUSED WHY ONLY CHINESE ANTI-LYNAS WHEN OTHERS SO QUIET, WEIRD.” Unquote.
Comment:
Yes, why only the Malaysian Chinese and no other racial groups are involved in this comical anti-lynas debacle.
At present, about 95% of these rare earths are mined and refined in China.
If you look at all the foreign blogs and press, you will see that most of the commentators are saying that CHINA IS THE HIDDEN CULPRIT BEHIND ALL THIS NONSENSE !
You cannot blame the foreigners for doing so as:
PRACTICALLY ALL ANTI-LYNAS NINCOMPOOPS ARE CHINESE
PRACTICALLY ALL NON-CHINESE ARE PRO-LYNAS,
SO THE LOGICAL CONCLUSION ?
CHINA IS THE ULTIMATE CULPRIT ! ! !
And this has triggered a lot of ill will, animosity, hatred and disgust for what was perceived as “CHINA’S DIRTY TRICKS AND MANIPULATIONS.’
However, this is not the real truth.
Quote notorious Anti-Lynas Jade Lee: “It may enlighten some readers here, if you are open minded enough to listen and to learn the truth,
IT WAS A FEW CHURCH LEADERS IN KUANTAN
who have first started to discuss the Lynas issue and to raise awareness of their congregation to oppose this project.” Unquote.
So what really happens is that a few of the innocent church leaders in Kuantan who are always concerned about the sufferings of others, suddenly realised that a huge REE plant is being built nearby.
Unfortunately at about the same time, the Fukushima disaster occurred.
And to their horror, they found that the raw material to be used in the Lynas plant was “radioactive” and with only a primitive knowledge of radiation, these concerned church leaders were flabbergasted and as Jade Lee said instigated their congregation to oppose this project.”
Presumably, these leaders have only a rudimentary knowledge of economics and must have been very suspicious of why Australia would want to send the ore all the way to Malaysia for processing and falsely believing that Australia must be truly terrified about the refining process with all its “dangerous, radioactive waste.”
Once the madness started, a few of the local Chinese Newspapers, picked up the story and amplified the fear by persistently reporting on every word that the anti-lynas say, even though they are something that is obviously absurd.. like the Lynas plant is a nuclear plant and is going to explode and spread radioactivity all over the country.
These Chinese Newspapers which are traditionally anti-establishment, may also be partly irritated by Lynas brag that Lynas is going to end the monopoly of China on the Rare Earth market by producing almost a third of the present world production.
Then, as usual, the local politicians saw the fantastic opportunity to accuse the establishment of allowing such a dangerous plant to be established in Kuantan.
Because the general election is coming soon, they could not let this golden opportunity to pass by, and so jump right into the fray.
With their massive financial backing, the opposition, together with some naive unthinking minds started the anti-lynas campaign
Since the local politician is a psychologist, this politician must be well versed in the techniques of convincing the population into believing something that is absolutely ridiculous.
It looks like they are using the same brainwashing techniques used by that devious demonic master brainwasher before and during the 2nd World War i.e. Hitler.
Brainwashing techniques are based on the consistently persistent repetition of propaganda focused on just a few issues and continuously repeated in a slightly different way.
According to Adolf Hitler in- “War Propaganda”, in volume 1, chapter 6 of Mein Kampf (1925)
“But the most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly and with unflagging attention. It must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over. Here, as so often in this world, persistence is the first and most important requirement for success.” Unquote.
One Chinese Newspaper in particular, has been reporting on a daily basis of everything that these anti-lynas folks were saying or doing, no matter stupid it is, like making fake coffins and doing silly walks.
This propaganda in the Chinese media is, like what is mentioned in Hitler’s Mein Kampf, is focused, constant, continuous and persistent.
There are 4 stages in this Hitler type of brainwashing procedure:
1. DISSEMINATION OF PROPAGANDA (usually well camouflaged lies)
2. HARASSMENT OF NON-BELIEVERS
3. INTIMIDATION OF DISSIDENTS and
4. ELIMINATION OF THE OBSTINATE DISSIDENTS
THE ANTI LYNAS RED GUARDS HAVE DEPLOYED AN ARMY OF CYBER HARASSERS AND CYBER THUGS IN ALL THE MALAYSIAN BLOGS AND OTHER NEWS MEDIA TO INTIMIDATE ANYONE WHO OPPOSE THEM AND THEY ARE VERY SUCCESSFUL SO FAR.
VERY FEW PEOPLE DARE TO SPEAK UP, AND ALL THOSE WHO DARE TO DO SO ARE BEING INTIMIDATED, HARASSED AND BOYCOTTED BY THE BRAINWASHED ZOMBIES.
THE MAIN AIM OF THESE CYBER THUGS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH GETTING RID OF LYNAS, OR ANYTHING TO DO WITH HELPING CHINA MAINTAIN THEIR GRIP ON THE REE MARKET, BUT THEY ARE USING THIS GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY TO BRAINWASH AND INSTILL HATRED FOR THE PRESENT GOVERNMENT, THUS ENABLING THEM TO WIN THE COMING GENERAL ELECTION.
At present they have been hindered by a tiny group of dissidents in Kuantan and they are now blocked at stage 3.
As a result of the Chinese media, most of the Chinese were well brainwashed into believing the absolute crap that these anti-lynas people were propagating and disseminating.
Fortunately, all the other racial groups do not read Chinese and the propaganda do not affect them and as a result, the Malays and Indians are unaffected.
QUOTE Anti-Lynas Jade Lee: “When a few so claimed rare earth scientists came to Kuantan to speak about the safe rare earth processing, they were criticised and BOOED OUT OF TOWN IN SHAME” Unquote.
THE THREE RARE EARTH SPECIALISTS, RECOMMENDED BY THE CCP OF CHINA, WHO WERE INVITED BY A FEW OF THE LOCAL ASSOCIATIONS TO ENLIGHTEN THE PEOPLE OF KUANTAN WERE RUDELY AND CRUDELY HARASSED BY THE ANTILYNAS LEADER AND HIS RED GUARDS IN A SHAMELESS AND DESPICABLE WAY.
THESE INNOCENT FOREIGN GUESTS WERE BEING BOOED, SHOUTED AT, JEERED, MOCKED, CRITICIZED, TERRORIZED AND DEGRADED BY THESE
DESPICABLE, UNCOUTH COMMON HARASSERS WHO UNWITTINGLY DISPLAYED THEIR ABSOLUTE STUPIDITY FOR ALL TO SEE.
THIS TYPE OF BEHAVIOUR BRINGS SHAME TO ALL MALAYSIANS AND SHOULD BE STRONGLY AND UNEQUIVOCALLY CONDEMNED.
THESE THREE POOR OLD CHINESE SCIENTISTS, TWO OF WHOM WERE IN THEIR 70′S, WITH YEARS OF VALUABLE EXPERIENCE, WERE FLABBERGASTED BY SUCH STUPID, CHILDISH, DISGUSTING BEHAVIOUR.
THE USE OF SUCH THUGGERY UNEQUIVOCALLY CATEGORIZES THE USERS INTO THE LOWEST RUNG OF SOCIETY AND REFLECTS BADLY ON THEIR CHARACTER, INTELLIGENCE AND UPBRINGING !
BECAUSE OF THEIR BULLYING TACTIC, VERY FEW PEOPLE DARE TO SPEAK UP, AND ALL THOSE WHO DARE TO DO SO ARE BEING INTIMIDATED, HARASSED AND BOYCOTTED BY THESE ZOMBIES
Dr Looi
http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/kb-council-won-t-let-hair-down-on-enforcement-1.178328
*
DAP secretary general Lim Guan Eng said that the Lynas rare-earth refinery should be shut down because the company had reneged on its commitment to export its so-called “harmful waste” out of Malaysia as promised in the letter to the AELB.
DAP secretary general Lim Guan Eng said Lynas claimed that managing director Mashal Ahmad had admitted that the Australian mining company will not be exporting waste out of Malaysia.
He said that with the statement by Mashal, which was published in a Chinese daily, the government can cancel the Lynas plant for breach of compliance without having to pay compensation
THIS IS NOT TRUE!
The letter sent by the CEO and MG of Lynas, Malaysia Nicholas Curtis and Mashal Ahmad clearly states that “IF NECESSARY”…….
SINCE ALL THE WASTES WILL BE RECYCLED, IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO SHIP THE “WASTE” OUT OF MALAYSIA.
AS SUCH IT IS RATHER OFFENSIVE TO ACCUSE THE LYNAS CEO OF LYING !
IF THE ANTI-LYNAS FOLK CANNOT UNDERSTAND EVEN SIMPLE ENGLISH, HOW CAN THEY UNDERSTAND RADIOACTIVITY?
Letter dated: 23.02.12 by the CEO and MA of Lynas Malaysia to AELB.
Quote: “Lynas Corporation Australia hereby give a full undertaking to, IF NECESSARY, remove from Malaysia all the waste generated Lynas Advanced Material in Gebeng, Kuantan during the Temporary Operating License period.” Unquote.
Lynas will recycle them as synthetic gypsum for plaster board, magnesium rich synthetic gypsum and synthetic aggregate and cement manufacturing, or as fertiliser.
The global market for synthetic gypsum is approximately 150 million tonnes per annum.
At current rates of production, supplies of synthetic gypsum co-products are beginning to outstrip natural gypsum, thus providing valuable new alternative materials and preserving the planet’s natural resources.
The WLP can be diluted according to international standards and made into valuable clinker for road construction and other construction projects.
I repeat, AND SO IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO REMOVE THE RECYCLED PROFITABLE “WASTE” FROM MALAYSIA and the recycling of the so called waste will create even more jobs … but hopefully not for the Anti-Lynas folk.
IF MALAYSIA WERE TO CLOSE DOWN LYNAS, LYNAS IS ENTITLED TO SUE FOR BILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF COMPENSATION.
THEY WILL MOST LIKELY SUE MALAYSIA IN AUSTRALIA, ENGLAND OR EVEN IN THE USA!
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK) MRCP(London)
http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/kb-council-won-t-let-hair-down-on-enforcement-1.178328
*
http://aliran.com/archives/monthly/2002/6e.html
*
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FACTS
A tiny piece of Malaysian Land 165 meters by 165 meters and 165 meters deep
CONTAINS 98.8 TONNES OF THORIUM-232
AND THAT IS MORE THAN THE THORIUM-232 IN ALL THE LYNAS “WASTE” ACCUMULATED IN 1 YEAR ! ! !
*
AVERAGE MALAYSIAN SOIL = 20 ppm OF THORIUM
SG of MALAYSIAN SOIL = 1.1 to 1.7
165X165X165 = 4,492,125 cubic meters
Even if we take the SG at it’s lowest i.e. 1.1
Mass of the soil = 4,941,375 tonnes
Mass of Thorium-232 = 98.8 tonnes
(4,941,375 X 0.00002)
Lynas is expected to produce about 824,400 cubic meters of WLP in the 1st 10 years of operation or 82,440 cubic meters of WLP per year (in terms of dry weight only 32,000 tonnes in year 1 and this dry WLP has a SG of 0.7).
If the average volume of the yearly production given by Lynas of 82,440 cubic meters of WLP refers to the dry volume of the WLP residue, then the dry weight of WLP will be = 0.7 X 82,440 = 57,709 tonnes of dry WLP per year.
This will produce only 57,709 tonnes X 0.00165 = about 95 tonnes of Thorium-232 per year
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK) MRCP(London)
*
http://kickdefella.net/2012/04/17/lynas-negligible-radiation-but-only-toxic-chemical-waste/#more-5242
*
*
A VERY GOOD EXAMPLE OF THE TYPE OF PEOPLE SOME OF THESE ANTI-LYNAS RED GUARDS ARE ! ! !
Quote
Rina Yong 04.02.13 : ” Dr Looi , Now I am showing this Lynas pool here ,
LYNAS say the WLP residue can be ‘recycled’: it may be possible to safely add it in small proportions to other materials, without compromising safety:
to show that the WLP residue is safe .
I am challenging you Dr Looi , Nick Tsurikov and Nike Curtis) to swim there as the proof it is not dangerous ….
See how those ( obscenity deleted ) OF YOURS (Dr Looi, Nick Tsurikov and Nike Curtis) will shrink or not ,,:)
(Dr Looi , Nick Tsurikov and Nike Curtis, Why not ask Lynas workers to jump in the pool for WLP residue to show it is safe . ,
Stupid of you Dr Looi , talking nonsense at this site ..
Doc Looi you are Nick’s ( abusive term deleted ) .. go back to Nick and LICK NICK’S ( gross vulgarity deleted ) ”
Unquote.
COMMENT:
To Rina Yong,
THE INAPPROPRIATE USE OF UN-LADY-LIKE WORDS OR PHRASES SUCH AS ” xxxxx,.. xxxxx OF YOURS ” WITH OR WITHOUT THE USE OF OTHER CRUDE VULGARITY, GROSS OBSCENITY,FOUR LETTER WORDS OR UNMENTIONABLE EXPLETIVES ………..
UNEQUIVOCALLY CATEGORIZES THE USER INTO THE LOWEST RUNG OF SOCIETY, AND REFLECTS BADLY ON HIS OR HER INTELLIGENCE, CHARACTER AND UPBRINGING !
YOUR OBSCENE, INDECENT, UNLADY-LIKE ABUSIVE WRITINGS WOULD MAKE EVEN A HARDEN HARD CORE HARD PORN ACTOR BLUSH !
OR ARE YOU SO USED TO SUCH ABUSIVE WORDS IN YOUR PROFESSIONAL CAPACITY THAT YOU ARE ALREADY COMPLETELY IMMUNE TO SUCH VULGARITY ?
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah.
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London).
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RINA YONG….. SEE HOW SHE “DO THE TWIST” ! ! !
Picture By Sandrinah Soo -
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http://sphotos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/68968_233614773439147_1756884629_n.jpg
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SOMETHING DIFFERENT !
NOTHING CAN TRAVEL FASTER THAN LIGHT IN AN ABSOLUTE VACUUM BUT:
PLEASE READ ON
sqrt = square root
10 = 3.1623^2
i = imaginary number = sqrt (-1)
i ^ 4 = +1
*****
E = mc ^2 {(1-v^2/c^2)}^(-1/2)
If an imaginary particle is travelling at 3.1623 x C,
E = mc ^2 [{(1-(3.1623c)^2)} / c^2]^(-1/2)
E = mc ^2 {(1-10)} ^ (-1/2)
…. = mc ^2 / square root (- 9)
…. = mc ^2 / 3i
If we raise E to the power of 4,
E^4 = (mc ^2)^4 / 81i^4
Since i^4 = +1,
E = 1/3 x mc^2 when an imaginary particle is travelling 3.1623 times the speed of light in a vacuum ! ! !
THIS APPEARS TO MAKE NO SENSE.
IS THERE ANY GOOD MATHEMATICIAN OUT THERE WHO COULD GIVE A DECENT EXPLANATION ?
OR TO PUT IT IN ANOTHER WAY, IF A PARTICLE MOVES FASTER THAN THE SPEED OF LIGHT, IT’S ENERGY DECREASES AND IF IT’S SPEED REACHES INFINITY, IT’S ENERGY AND HENCE IT’S MASS BECOMES ZERO !…….. unless it’s energy is compensated by it’s increase in it’s Newtonian Kinetic Energy (which may not work either as the mass becomes zero, the Newtonian kinetic energy will also become zero);
E = mc^2 + 1/2 x mv^2,
The only time when matter moves faster than light is during the period of inflation at the time of the Big Bang.
At this time the total energy and mass of the universe may be small (and not infinitely large) but as the inflation decreases towards the speed of light C, the total energy and hence the total mass may be at it’s maximum at C.
From then on decreases exponentially to the total energy and mass of today i.e. at rest of E = mc^2.
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah.
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London).
http://richerramblings.wordpress.com/2012/10/26/problems-with-zero-numberphile/
DOES THE VERY LOW LEVEL RADIATION FROM THORIUM-232 INDUCE EVOLUTIONARY PRESSURES ON THE POPULATION IN PLACES LIKE RAMSAR ?
Quote Nuclear Scientist affiliated with CERN: “The writer has forgotten the glaring fact that those inhabitants …in these locations have gone through generations of adaptations “. Unquote
REPLY:
This I feel is a gross simplification of the situation. As you should know for a useful mutation to take place under a selective pressure like radiation we need the presence of millions upon millions of reproductive events.
Those individuals without this useful mutation must be selectively eliminated through death or inability to reproduce efficiently.
Deaths and infertility have not been a known side effect of the slow, low level radiation as seen in Ramsar where the average radiation, though higher than other places, is still way below the acute lethal level. The average radiation level is only 10 mSv per year, though in some areas it may be as high as 260 mSv/yr.
Humans are not like bacteria or viruses where millions or even billions of individual organisms are involved and where there is a generation change within about 20 minutes or so.
In Ramsar, for instance the population in 2006 is only 31,000.
In terms of useful mutation that can be transmitted to the whole population to materialise, the chance of such a mutation must be incredibly small for such a genetically tiny non-isolated population.
Those 31,000 people over the years must have moved freely to and from other parts of Iran.
For a tiny population and where the reproductive cycle is in terms of 20 years or so the number of generations must run into thousands or even more.
Moreover, Ramsar is not an isolated island, but rather part of an easily accessible area of Iran where there are frequent movement of people and genetic material.
As such, for that one incredible rare mutation providing resistance to radiation to be transmitted to whole non-static population is near impossible, especially when that one mutant needs to impregnate and transmit this useful gene to a whole non-static population. He must be a real SUPERMAN!
The example of radiation accident at Chernobyl where 30 people lost their lives as a result of acute radiation syndrome is a rather poor example to explain the development of genetically transmitted radiation tolerance.
The exposure was very acute and at very high doses, at levels of over 100 mSv in a very short time. These are highly lethal doses and as such should obviously cause a certain number of deaths, just like any other toxin or chemical where not all that are exposed will die and as such we have such a statistical value called LD50.
According to UNSCEAR apart from increased thyroid cancers, there is no evidence of a major public health impact attributable to radiation exposure 20 years after the accident. This includes all the “liquidators” (clean-up workers) in the Chernobyl disaster.
Although I must admit that the genetic makeup has a big influence on the severity of the damage, there are many other factors that needs to be considered like the actual dose of radiation, how acute was the dose delivered, the organs involved, the amount of various types of existing chemicals (like iodine) present in the body, the size of the person, the existing health condition etc.
It is tantamount to saying that if a certain number of people are given 150 tablets of panadol at 30 tablets per day for five days, a certain number of them will die from liver failure. The genetically tolerant patients will be “selected” by this selection pressure to pass the genes to the now panadol resistant population. This may be a fair argument.
However, if a similar group of people were given 150 tablets of panadol at only 5 tablets per day in divided doses, this is no longer a form of selection pressure as the dosage though high is well below the danger threshold and will not cause any death from liver failure.
The average dose of radiation received by people in Ramsar is about 10 milisievert/year, though in some cases can reach a level in excess of 260 milisievert/year.
This radiation level of 10 mSv/year is like taking 150 tablets of panadol at 5 tablets per day in divided doses. At this low level it is not a significant evolutional selection pressure as it is way below a level which can cause rapid evolutional changes.
The scientist also claimed that the radiation is cumulative and as such do exert a selective pressure on the population of e.g. Ramsar.
However, this scientist do not realise that if it is cumulative in nature, it therefore does not kill the people within a short period.
What this suggest is that, if that is true, it will only cause death from cancer 10 to 30 years later WELL AFTER THE REPRODUCTIVE AGE OF THE PEOPLE AND AS SUCH WILL NOT HAVE ANY ILL EFFECT ON THE SURVIVAL OF THE POPULATION AS A WHOLE i.e. the moderately high level of radiation is not an evolutional selective pressure on the population.
A very good example of suspected evolutionary changes to the population from carcinogens is the effect of the Class 1 Carcinogen “SUNLIGHT”.
It has long been known that people living in sunlight deficient countries like those in Europe have very light coloured skin and it was postulated that the ultra-violet (UV) light in the tropical regions causes skin cancers and as such selectively eliminated the light coloured skin people and gives the evolutionary advantage to the dark skin counterparts.
This is not really true since the people developed and die from the skin cancers when they are long past their reproductive age.
It is now known that light skinned folks are disadvantaged in the sunny tropics because the UV light from the sun destroys the FOLIC ACD in the body and this effect takes place throughout the lifespan of the population and exerts an evolutionary pressure in favour of dark skin people in the tropic.
THE CATCH PHRASE IS “PRE, INTRA OR POST REPRODUCTIVE AGE” WHEN THE DETRIMENTAL EFFECTS OF THE EVOLUTIONARY PRESSURE OCCURS.
And on the other hand the dark skin people were disadvantaged in the sunlight deficient north because of the lack of sunlight induced Vitamin D from their skin AND THIS DISADVANTAGE IS PRESENT THROUGHOUT THE LIFESPAN OF THIS GROUP OF PEOPLE.
EVEN UNSCEAR ADMITS THAT THEY WERE WRONG TO IMPLY THAT THERE IS NO SAFE LEVEL OF RADIATION !
There IS a safe level and that is,
RADIATION DOSES LESS THAN ABOUT 10 rem (100 mSv ) per year ARE SAFE.
(Note: 100 mSv = 5,OO0,000 % Lynas worst case scenario)
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Have a look at this article recommended by Nick Tsurikov, the International Radiation Safety Expert and Co-author of the IAEA Radiation Safety Report.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2013/01/11/like-weve-been-saying-radiation-is-not-a-big-deal/
Excerpt of Article in Forbes:
“UNSCEAR (THE UNITED NATIONS SCENTIFIC COMMITTEE ON THE EFFECTS OF ATOMIC RADIATION) HAS FINALLY ADMITTED THAT WE CAN’T USE THE LNT HYPOTHESIS TO PREDICT CANCER FROM LOW DOSES OF RADIATION.”
Dato’ Dr Looi
Quote jonnymalaya | Februari 13, 2013 at 6:07 pm
“Years down the road, we shall see if there was a repeat of the Bukit Merah incident like in the 80s…
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/business/energy-environment/09rareside.html?_r=0
Unquote
COMMENT:
The above article with a picture of a child with what appears to be a form of cerebral palsy as well as many other pictures with congenital defects from the Bukit Merah area has been used repeatedly to instil fear into the unsuspecting naive population of Malaysia in a very sick attempt to link Lynas to these terrible illnesses.
THE LINK BEWEEN CONGENITAL DEFECTS LIKE CEREBRAL PALSY AND RADIATION IN BUKIT MERAH ARE MISINFORMATIONS MALICIOUSLY CREATED BY THE ANTI-LYNAS FOLKS !
In a unique study by scientists at the John Hopkins University, published in 1988 by American Journal of Epidemiology, researchers investigated the association of parental occupational exposure to low-level external whole-body penetrating ionizing radiation and risk of congenital malformations in their offspring.
THE UNIQUE FEATURE OF THIS STUDY WAS THE LINKING OF QUANTITATIVE INDIVIDUAL MEASUREMENTS OF EXTERNAL WHOLE-BODY PENETRATING IONIZING RADIATION EXPOSURE OF EMPLOYEES AT THE HANDFORD SITE IN WASHINGTON STATE, USING PERSONAL DOSIMETERS AND THE DISEASE OUTCOME i.e. CONGENITAL MALFORMATIONS.
The study population included 672 malformation cases and 977 matched controls from births occurring from 1957 through 1980.
Twelve specific malformation types were analyzed for evidence of association with employment of the parents at Hanford and with occupational exposure to ionizing radiation.
Two defects, congenital dislocation of the hip and tracheoesophageal fistula, showed statistically significant associations with employment of the parents at Hanford, BUT NOT WITH PARENTAL RADIATION EXPOSURE.
Neural tube defects like spina bifida showed a slightly significant association with parental preconception exposure, but the number of cases is too small to be conclusive of a definite co-relation.
Eleven other defects, INCLUDING DOWN SYNDROME AND CEREBRAL PALSY showed no evidence of such an association.
When all malformations were analyzed as a group, there was no evidence of an association with employment of the parents at Hanford.
Given the number of statistical tests conducted, some or all of the observed positive correlations are likely to represent false positive findings.
In view of strong contradictory evidence in this well conducted study and the fact that there is NO CONGENITAL DEFECTS DEMONSTRATED IN STUDIES ON THE ATOMIC BOMB SURVIVORS IN HIRAOSHIMA AND NAGASAKI,
THE CONCLUSION IS THAT “IT IS UNLIKELY THAT LOW DOSE RADIATION CAN CAUSE CONGENITAL DEFECTS.”
After analysing thousands of well conducted studies, even UNSCEAR has now admitted THAT THEY WERE WRONG TO IMPLY THAT THERE IS NO SAFE LEVEL OF RADIATION !
There IS a safe level and that is,
RADIATION DOSES LESS THAN ABOUT 10 rem (100 mSv ) per year ARE SAFE.
(Note: 100 mSv = 5,OO0,000 % Lynas worst case scenario)
*
Have a look at this article recommended by Nick Tsurikov, the International Radiation Safety Expert and Co-author of the IAEA Radiation Safety Report.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2013/01/11/like-weve-been-saying-radiation-is-not-a-big-deal/
Excerpts of Article in Forbes:
“UNSCEAR (THE UNITED NATIONS SCENTIFIC COMMITTEE ON THE EFFECTS OF ATOMIC RADIATION) HAS FINALLY ADMITTED THAT WE CAN’T USE THE LNT HYPOTHESIS TO PREDICT CANCER FROM LOW DOSES OF RADIATION.”
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah.
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London).
1. SAFETY OF THORIUM-232
It is safer and cleaner than uranium because its radioactivity is significantly lower:
Quote Richard Martin, famous journalist with extensive experience in Thorium
“A CHUNK OF THORIUM IS NO MORE HARMFUL THAN A BAR OF SOAP”.
You can safely hold metallic Thorium-232 in your hands as it is an alpha emitter and alpha particles cannot penetrate even a piece of paper.
#####
2. Thorium-232 is strongly adsorbed to clay. There is no natural way it can get into body. Even the plants and fruits do not contain any Thorium in places with high Thorium in soil.
The amount of Th-232 in the human body is tiny (estimated to be only 30 micrograms per body i.e. to get 30 gm of Th-232, you need 1 million bodies!
NICK TSURIKOV, INTERNATIONAL RADIATION SAFETY SPECIALIST
THORIUM IN “WASTE” IS INSOLUBLE AND CANNOT POISON ANY PLANTS, ANIMALS OR THE ENVIRONMENT – EVEN IN THEORY.
RADIATION FROM THE PLANT WILL BE UNDETECTABLE OUTSIDE THE BOUNDARIES (of the plant).”
#####
3. QUOTE NICK TSURIKOV, INTERNATIONAL RADIATION SAFETY EXPERT WHO IS THE CO-AUTHOR OF IAEA RADIATION SAFETY REPORT:
“On dust particles – THERE IS NO WAY WHATSOEVER FOR
DUSTPARTICLES OF AROUND 10 MICRONS TO GET INTO
THE LUNGS –
THE STUFF THAT GETS THERE IS 5 MICRONS OR LESS,..
The vast majority of the (Lynas) concentrate is either 10 MICRONS or above, SO THERE WOULD NOT BE ANY ISSUE HERE.”
#####
4. BECAUSE OF THE EXTREME LOW SPECIFIC ACTIVITY OF TH-232, THE AMOUNT OF DECAY PRODUCT IS MINUSCULE e.g.
Thorium-232 produced from the WLP per year is only about 95 tonnes and as such a 1 year accumulation of Th-232 produces only 0.5098 MICROGRAMS OF RADON-220/HR OR 0.00005172 ML (CC)/HR of Thoron gas at STP.
At secular equilibrium, the amount of daughter Radon-220 is only 167 femtograms per ton of Lynas WLP i.e.
0.000000000000167 grams.
THIS AMOUNT IS NOT ENOUGH TO TICKLE THE BACKSIDE OF A NEWBORN PIGMY BABY CATERPILLAR !
#####
5. THE longer the half-life of a substance, the less its radioactivity.
As an analogy, if it takes 14 billion years for half of a house to be burnt, there is no chance of anybody getting hurt. But if it takes only 14 minutes for half of the house to be burnt down, many will be injured or killed.
Thorium-232, which is found in the Lynas waste, has an incredibly long half-life of 14 billion years and as such is much less radioactive than the potassium-40 whose half-life is only 1.25 billion years
#####
6. LEAD-208 WHICH IS USED IN YOUR CAR BATTERIES HAVE AN EVEN LONGER HALF LIFE OF 19 MILLION BILLION YEARS AND AS SUCH IS REGARDED AS NON-RADIOACTIVE…i.e. it decays extremely slowly and therefore the radioactivity is incredible low!
So it’s silly and illogical to say that thorium long half life means that it is dangerous.. It means that is very only very weakly radioactive and can even be held in your hands!
#####
7. KEROSENE GAS MANTLES USED IN HAWKER’S LAMPS
THESE GAS MANTLES ARE MADE OF FABRIC SOAKED IN THORIUM-232 AND AFTER THE INITIAL “FIRING” BECOMES ALMOST PURE THORIUM DIOXIDE.
MILLIONS HAD HELD THESE “DANGEROUS, RADIOACTIVE” THORIUM GAS MANTLES IN THEIR HANDS.
REMEMBER THORIUM DIOXIDE HAS A SPECIFIC ACTIVITY OF 3,585 Bq/g ! THE “WASTE” FROM LYNAS IS ONLY 6 Bq/g.
WHY FRIGHTEN OF 6 Bq/g FROM WASTE AND NOT WORRIED ABOUT THE 3,585 Bq/g FROM THEIR KEROSENE LAMP ?
#####
8. THE ANNUAL DOSE RATE EXPOSURE
1. FROM MALAYSIAN CLAY BRICK HOUSE = 0.43 mSv/year
(215 x Lynas Worst Case Scenario)
2. SLEEPING IN WOODEN HOUSE = 0.20 mSv/yr
(100x Lynas worst case)
3. SLAG BRICK AND GRANITE HOUSE = up to 2.0 mSv/yr
(1,000x Lynas worst case)
SO TO ALL ANTI-LYNAS FOLKS, YOU SHOULD PITCH UP A TENT NEXT TO THE LYNAS PLANT AND SEND YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY TO LIVE NEXT TO LYNAS AS THIS IS HUNDREDS OF TIMES LESS RADIOACTIVE THAN LIVING IN YOUR PRESENT WOODEN OR BRICK HOUSES
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9.
1. WASTE FROM MALAYSIAN AMANG INDUSTRY > 100 Bq/g
2. WASTE “SCALE AND SLUDGE” IN OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY
________ LIKE IN PETRONAS = 1,000 Bq/g
3. and ___Lynas WLP only = 6 Bq/g !
SO WHY NO GREENIES PROTESTS AT THE MORE THAN 10 AMANG
( TIN TAILING ) PLANTS AND AT PETRONAS ?
#####
10 Nick Tsurikov, Radiation Safety Expert ” THE MAJORITY OF THIS LYNAS “WASTE” WILL HAVE ONLY HALF THE THORIUM THAN IN NORMAL MALAYSIAN SOIL.
Lynas residues are half as radioactive as the sand the kids all over Malaysia play in the kindergartens
If you do look through the Lynas RIA together with UN (not IAEA) reports –
you will clearly see that two most ‘voluminous’ residues from LAMP will have less than 12 parts per million of thorium –
and the average MALAYSIAN SOIL – 20 ppm OF THORIUM.
CONT.
11. IN MOST OF THE ADVANCED COUNTRIES LIKE THE USA, CANADA AND AUSTRALIA WHERE THERE ARE NO HALF BAKED SELF STYLED SCIENTISTS, ANY MATERIAL THAT HAS AN ACTIVITY OF LESS THAN 10 Bq/g is regarded as non-radioactive for transport and do not require any special permission.
LYNAS ORE = ONLY 6 Bq/g AND THEREFORE REQUIRES NO SPECIAL PERMISSION IN MOST OF THE DEVELOPED COUNTRIES.
#####
12. THE MOST BIOLOGICALLY DAMAGING FORMS OF GAMMA RAYS OCCUR IN THE GAMMA RAY WINDOW OF BETWEEN 3 MeV AND 10 MeV.
Those below 3.0 MeV are NOT very harmful. They have poor penetrating power and do not deposit much energy.
Those higher energy gamma rays of greater than 10 MeV are
NOT very harmful because the body is relatively transparent to them.
THE AVERAGE ENERGY OF THE MOST ABUNDANT EMISSION OF Th-232 IS ONLY 0.059 MeV.
#####
13. UNSCEAR ADMIT THAT THEY WERE WRONG TO IMPLY THAT THERE IS NO SAFE LEVEL OF RADIATION !
There IS a safe level !
UNSCEAR (THE UNITED NATIONS SCENTIFIC COMMITTEE ON THE EFFECTS OF ATOMIC RADIATION) HAS FINALLY ADMITTED THAT RADIATION DOSES LESS THAN ABOUT 10 rem (100 mSv ) per year ARE SAFE.
(Note: 100 mSv = 5,000,000 % Lynas worst case scenario)
#####
14. RADIATION EXPOSURE OF 100 mSv/yr IS SAFE: Prof WADE ALLISON
Nick Tsurikov, International Radiation Safety Expert:
“EXPERTS INCLUDING Professor WADE ALLISON OF OXFORD UNIVERSITY ARGUE THAT THE DOSE LIMIT CAN SAFELY BE RAISED TO 100 mSv, based on current health statistics.”
(100 mSv/yr = 50,000 times or 5,000,000% higher than Lynas worst case scenario)
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15. SLEEPING NEXT TO SOMEONE for 8 hrs/day
(e.g. your wife or husband) = 0.02 mSv (UNSCEAR)
(10x Lynas worst case)
SO DON’T SLEEP WITH YOUR WIFE OR HUSBAND since this is like sleeping next to 10 Lynas plants!
Dose in worst case scenario for Lynas plant = 0.002 mSv/yr
Malaysian Monazite Ore in Tin Tailings or Amang = 284 Bq/g or 69,608 ppm
Lynas ore and Lynas WLP “waste” ~ 6 Bq/g or < 1,600 ppm
#####
16. THE FINISHED PROCESSED RARE EARTH PRODUCT EMITS ONLY 0.156 mSv/yr ( A TARMAC ROAD EMITS 2.4 TO 2.6 mSv/yr ! ) – so a fraction of what people in everyday life naturally experience.
The radiation from a tarmac road comes from Thorium-232, Uranium-238, Potassium-40, Radium and other trace radionuclides in the Tar and the Granite stones.
#####
17. When the mother radionuclide has an extremely long half life and the daughters have very short half life, there is very little accumulation of the short half life daughters.
The concentration of the daughter radionuclides is negligible e.g. there is only 1 atom of Radium 224 for every 1.4 trillion atoms of Thorium-232 at equilibrium.
#####
18. As far as radon gas is concerned, it must be remembered that Radon-220 from the decay chain of Thorium-232 has a very short half life of only 55 seconds!
As such only a tiny amount of Radon-220 (a.k.a. Thoron) within a few centimetres of the surface of a huge pile of waste will be able to live long enough to escape from the pile and see the light of day!
#####
19. A lot of people have mistaken Radon-220 from Thorium-232 decay series with the more notorious Radon-222 which has a much longer half life of 3.8 days. Radon-222 comes from Uranium-238 decay series.
Because of its much longer half life, Radon-222 can and do accumulate in the cellars and poorly ventilated areas of domestic dwellings. Radon-222 is the gas that has been linked to lung cancers in especially non-smokers.
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20. AS STATED BY MORMAN FREDERICK MOORE, THE AUSTRALIAN MINISTER FOR MINES AND PETROLEUM, IF LYNAS HAVE CHOSEN TO OPERATE IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA, IT WOULD BE WELCOMED WITH OPEN ARMS !
1. Alkane has decided to build a multi-billion dollar rare earth plant in the outskirts of Sydney.
2. Arafura is building a huge Rare Earth Processing Plant costing over A$1 Billion in Whyalla in South Australia.
Dato' Dr Looi,
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HAVE A LOOK AT ALL THE VULGARITIES AND OBSCENITIES OOZING OUT OF THE ANTI-LYNAS RED GUARDS IN THIS LINK !
ALL THESE OBSCENITIES AND VULGARITIES DIRECTED TO ME FOR TELLING THE TRUTH ABOUT LYNAS AND THE SCIENTIFIC FACTS TO DEBUNK THE LIES PROPAGATED AND DISEMINATED BY THEIR MASTER BRAINWASHERS !
PLEASE SEE ALL THE 182 COMMENTS…… 99% VULGARITIES.
CLICK “View Previous Comments” as well in the link.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=158561994277994&set=a.158561367611390.35092.151057301695130&type=1&comment_id=173973&offset=0&total_comments=179
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London)
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MORE ON THORIUM-232 SAFETY
Since the average absorbed Beta energy of K-40 decay is 499 keV and the average absorbed Gamma energy is 156 keV,
THE INTERNAL DOSAGE from K-40 ~ 0.24 mSv/yr:
(120x Lynas worst case scenario)
So why complain about radiation from Lynas when there is the equivalent of 120 Lynas plants producing radiation already inside your body in the form of Potassium-40 !
####
There is no natural way for Metallic Thorium or insoluble Thorium compounds or even soluble salts when adsorbed with clay, to enter the body in any significant amount and as Nick Tsurikov, International Radiation Safety Expert and Co-author of IAEA Radiation Safety Report says
“THORIUM IN ‘WASTE’ IS INSOLUBLE AND CANNOT POISON ANY PLANTS, ANIMALS OR THE ENVIRONMENT – EVEN IN THEORY.” Unquote.
There has not been a single death or injury that has been definitely and conclusively proven beyond any scientific doubt from the accidental inhalation or ingestion of Thorium-232 !
Compare this with death caused by Water i.e. from drowning… 388,000 drowning deaths in 2004 alone (WHO).
####
Metallic Thorium or it’s insoluble compounds are chemically innocuous and inert especially when adsorbed by clay.
Soluble form in the absence of clay absorption = 0.02 to 0.05%.
With clay, much much less.
Studies show that a small number out of the 4 million patients who were given this massive dose of 1 or 2 vials (containing 5.58g to 11.7g of thorium) of Thorotrast, developed cancer especially of the liver 20 to 30 years later in their old age.
Even if we ignore the incredibly strong adsorption to clay, in order to get 5.58g of thorium-232 (equivalent to 1 vial of Thorotrast), we have to swallow an incredible 17,000kg or 17 tonnes of Lynas waste!
Even with 11.7 g of Th-232 given parenterally, no acute toxicity noted.
####
Thorium-232 is not a Carcinogen (cancer causing agent) if Inhaled or Ingested according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer IARC.
Thorium-232 is considered to be a carcinogen only IF ADMINISTERED INTRAVENOUSLY AS A COLLOIDAL DISPERSION OF THORIUM-232 DIOXIDE.
Even this may not be true as the carcinogenic effects of the massive dose of Xray from those antique Xray machines (about 1,000 mSv per fluoroscopy and some of the 4 million patients may have had more than one fluoroscopy done in their lifetime) was not taken in consideration when UNSCEAR came to the conclusion that Th-232 given parenterally is a carcinogen.
Dato’ Dr Looi Hoong Wah.
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London).
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http://kickdefella.net/2012/04/17/lynas-negligible-radiation-but-only-toxic-chemical-waste/#more-5242