The fate of whether to release or not the highly controversial temporary operating license (TOL) that Lynas Corp. needs to fire up its beleaguered rare earths processing plant in Malaysia has been committed to be known in the next two weeks.

"We have to make the decision as soon as possible, within two weeks," Minister Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili of Malaysia's Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (Mosti) said in theSundaily.my.

"We have gotten several updates and have reviewed 14 submissions during the appeal hearing," he added.

In April, Mosti heard the appeals lodged by various opponents to the TOL that the Atomic Energy Licensing Board (AELB) awarded to Lynas Corp. in early February. The challengers opposed to the presence of the rare earths processing plant, claiming grounds of environmental pollution and potential health dangers to the community.

The TOL is what was needed to jumpstart the operations of its Lynas Advanced Materials Plant in Gebeng, Kuantan.

The TOL, until now, has yet to be received by the Australian rare earths miner pending the conclusion of Mosti's review on the appeals and final decision.

But such fears that the high levels of radioactive waste would result in deaths have been downplayed even by the Malaysian authorities themselves.

"The Lynas rare earths plant will only produce one millisieverts (mSv) per year as required by law compared with the existing 2.4mSv background radiation already present in the air," Dr Ahmad Termizi Ramli, radiology and environmental expert, was quoted as saying by Asia One News

"Logically, if the dose at this level can cause extensive impact to humans, no human being will exist on earth except for mutants," he added.

Dr Abdul Rahman Omar, a nuclear physicist, likewise said the thorium 232 found in the Lynas waste holds a long half-life of 14 billion years and was much less radioactive.

"A person will have to consumer 2,000 kg of processed rare earth to ingest 0.3 mg of thorium before it becomes fatal," he said.

The two experts are part of the Parliamentary Select Committee that was created to look into the controversy hounding Lynas Corp. and its rare earths processing plant.

The PSC has likewise concluded its own public hearings on the case. Its final report will be scheduled for submission to Parliament on June 14. Parliament will convene on June 11.

The TOL, however, does not explicitly need the approval of the PSC so "I do not have to wait for them," Mr Ongkili said.

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