Seorang pakar dari Kuantan Thorium 232 tidak berbahaya malah malah dia juga berkata jika ada orang bagi Thorium ini padanya dia akan simpan didalam rumahnya
By Datuk Dr Looi Hoong Wah, Kuantan, Pahang
I JUST cannot understand what the big fuss is all about with regard to radioactivity exposure around the Lynas rare earth plant.
Thorium-232 is the only radioactive element associated with rare earth mining and it is regarded as the future green nuclear fuel.
It is present in rocks everywhere and even in its purest form, it radiates only alpha particles.
Alpha particles, which consist of two protons and two neutrons, are nothing more than helium atoms without their electrons.
These alpha particles cannot travel more than a few centimetres and cannot penetrate the human skin.
As such, you can hold a lump of pure thorium-232 in your rubber-gloved hands without any danger.
Thorium-232 does not produce dangerous gamma rays, which have high ionising energy, high frequency and short electromagnetic wavelength. These can pass though the human body and cause radiation damage.
To be frank, I would not mind keeping a few hundred kilogrammes of pure thorium-232 in my house if someone were kind enough to give me such a valuable substance.
In other words, the fear of radioactivity danger from the rare earth processing plant is unfounded and exaggerated.
What we need to worry about is the chemical toxic waste that such plants produce.
But, unfortunately, all industrial plants produce toxic waste and the only way to avoid producing these waste will be for us to remain a poor agricultural country.
P/S: Agak-agak Fuziah Toron berani tak simpan dalam rumah dia hehehe
Dear Sir,
BalasPadamIrrational, Illogical and Incomprehensible Fear of Radiation from Lynas Rare Earth Plant
I wonder if you know what's happening to the people here in Kuantan.
They have been brainwashed by some unscrupulous people into believing in something that is so incredible that even a 3 year old child should know!
It is very painful to see how so many well educated Malaysians including Doctors, Medical Specialists, Professors etc. are being misled by irresponsible people with obvious ulterior motives.
Even the president of CAP thought that since Thorium-232 has a long half-life, it is extremely dangerous when THE REVERSE IS TRUE.
And even the Malaysian Medical Association has made statements in the China Press to suggest the radiation fear from Lynas Rare Earth Plant is dangerous.
The whole population of Kuantan believes than the Lynas Rare Earth Plant is a nuclear reactor that may blow up anytime!
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!
Continued in next page.
Thorium-232 In Clay Soil Cannot Get Into Body Tissues
BalasPadam1. 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 do not harm as the thorium will still be strongly attached 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.
con't
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.
BalasPadamMoreover, 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?
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.
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.
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.
There is therefore no external threat.
con't
4.Unnatural Routes of Entry
BalasPadamThe 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 ?
Dato' Dr Looi Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB.,ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London)
Kuantan,
ps. I have absolutely no connection to Lynas Corp. or the present Government. I am not anti-Lynas or pro-Lynas. I just want the people to make up their own mind based on facts rather than emotions. In my case, I have nothing to gain or to lose by writing this article.
Thank you Dato for the valuable information. I,m only spreading the truth using a fact.
BalasPadamDear Pejuang Bangsa,
PadamThank you very much for putting my articles in your blog.
I hope you would be kind enough to translate them into Bahasa Malaysia and put them into other Bahasa blogs.
We must protect the Malay population from all those blatant lies spread by certain unscrupulous people with obvious ulterior motives.
Warmest regards,
Dato' Dr Looi
Dear Sir,
BalasPadamAll the anti-Lynas people must consider these 2 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 BUT IT IS NOT OK FOR US TO SUFFER AND DIE !
THIS TYPE OF ATTITUDE IS PURE HYPOCRASY.. HYPOCRASY 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 word 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)
There are only 2 natural ways of getting any substance into your body:
BalasPadam1. 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 no 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
http://kickdefella.net/2012/04/17/lynas-negligible-radiation-but-only-toxic-chemical-waste/#more-5242
BalasPadamKickdefella site
http://kickdefella.net/2012/04/16/rare-earth-a-richer-malaysia-and-a-greener-world/#comment-76493
New Rare earth plants
BalasPadam1. 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 ?
BalasPadamA 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)
EVEN YOUR WIFE IS RADIOACTIVE!
BalasPadamEven 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 therapy 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.
Quote from Wikipedia: "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.
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. "
Dr Looi
Lynas Rare Earth Plant Contribute Significantly to our Country and Local Economies
BalasPadamEven 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
Why do we have to give Lynas the 12 yrs tax free incentive?
BalasPadamQuote 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 Hoong Wah
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK) MRCP(London)
Thorium-232 has a half-life of 14 billion years and our descendants will be exposed to dangerous radiation for over 14 billion years?
BalasPadamThis is absolutely not true and is a very common misconception.
In fact there was a ridiculous claim in the Sin Chew Newspaper by the chairman of a certain NGO that since Thorium-232 has a half-life of 14 Billion years, it is very dangerous for an extremely long time and will even affect our descendants!
He should not be making any such nonsensical statements if he has absolutely no basic knowledge of even elementary kindergarten physics.
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)
Which is more radioactive, Potassium-40 or Thorium-232?
BalasPadamRecently 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 and agree that it all depends on what we are trying to compare with.
Dato' Dr Looi Hoong Wah
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".
BalasPadamQuote "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!
con't
con't
BalasPadamThe 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.
What I am trying to say is that it is NOT VALID to use the results of the ACUTE HIGH INTENSITY radiation (100 mSv over a very short period) of Chernobyl to justify evolutionary changes in the chronic low intensity (about 10 mSv/year) radiation found in places like Ramsar. Such low intensity radiation (of 10 mSv/year which is half that allowed for an industrial worker) do not kill and has not been scientifically and conclusively proven to reduce fertility and as such cannot act as an evolutionary selection factor.
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.
BalasPadamMy 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 Ramsar.
Dato' Dr Looi Hoong Wah.
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London).
Quote:
BalasPadam“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
BalasPadamI 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)
BalasPadamThe 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
http://kickdefella.net/2012/04/16/rare-earth-a-richer-malaysia-and-a-greener-world/#comment-76493
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
BalasPadamWhen 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.
Quote: "Thorium-232 do not produce any gamma rays, but it's daughter radionuclides do produce the dangerous penetrating gamma rays" Unquote
BalasPadamPure 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).
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 parroted, more as a means of cyber harassment than for any form of intellectual benefit).
BalasPadamSome 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, naive inexperienced politicians asked another to drink drain water and since then this question has been brainlessly parroted 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 guarantee me that 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)
ADSORPTION AND SOLUBILITY
BalasPadam"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."
Quote Anti-Lynas:
"Lynas' snake-oil salesman forgot to tell you that the WLP waste will be roasted in concentrated acid. And in that form, thorium is highly soluble. Unquote
The SOLUBILITY of a substance in a solute like water and ADSORPTION of the substance are 2 separate properties and not the same.
In nature Thorium-232 is found in the form of Monazite (Ce,La,Nd,Th)PO4 i.e. the phosphate of Thorium-232. This is completely insoluble in water.
The next most common ore is Thorite (ThSiO4) which has a gram molecular weight of 324.12 gm. This is also completely insoluble in water.
Practically most of the other thorium compounds are artificially created in the laboratory. The most famous is Thorium dioxide (ThO2) which was used as a radiological contrast media and because it is also insoluble, it is administered intravenously as a colloidal dispersion of thorium-232 dioxide (Thorotrast)
Huge doses of 25cc to 50 cc of a 25%solution of Thorium dioxide (Thorotrast) was injected into the vein or artery in the contrast radiological studies.
The other Thorium salts like the fluorides, chlorides, Iodides, sulfides, selenides, tellurides, nitrides, nitrates, sulphates and other complexes are all artificially synthesized.
All of these have varying degrees of solubility in water. The most soluble will be the nitrates, chlorides and to a lesser degree sulphates. As mentioned above, the oxides, silicates and phosphates are insoluble.
Metallic Thorium-232 is of course totally insoluble in water.
However, whether Thorium-232 is in the SOLUBLE OR INSOLUBLE FORM, IT IS STILL STRONGLY ADSORPED BY CLAY AND CANNOT BE LEACHED OUT BY WATER.
The extremely dangerous herbicide Paraquat is a liquid and is extremely soluble in water. Although it is extremely soluble and dangerous, IT IS NOT LEACHED OUT OF THE SOIL and pollute the rivers because it is STRONGLY ADSORPED BY CLAY SOIL JUST LIKE THORIUM-232.
So Lynas can continue their acid roasting of the ore and with the usual procedures taken, it should not be a problem.
Dato' Dr Looi Hoong Wah.
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London).
What is the "safe" level of radiation?
BalasPadamPublic dose limits for exposure from uranium mining or nuclear plants are usually set at 1 mSv per year above background.
The figures below are given 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.
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).
This is over and above background exposure, and excludes medical exposure.
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 because the low energy gamma rays from the Thorium-232 decay chain is able to travel less than 300 metres in air.
Note, the average energy of most abundant emission is only 0.059 MeV, though the gamma ray from Thallium-208 decay to stable Lead-208 has a higher energy of 2.62 MeV.
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 Looi
Thank you Dr for all the information article and fact . I already compile all the articles and translate it to Bahasa Melayu.
BalasPadamYour valuable information will be useful for our mankind and future science of nuclear technology.
Dear Pejuang Bangsa,
BalasPadamQuote: 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
Warmest regards,
Dato' Dr Looi
From the New Straits Times Press, Ahmad Ibrahim, Fellow of Academy of Sciences, Malaysia Quote:
BalasPadam"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)
HAVE A LOOK AT ALL THESE VIDEOS
BalasPadamKaram Singh Videos:
Penang Stadium:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RPOGzrqu1Vg
Che Rosli TV3 interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjT1kUAy_08&feature=player_detailpage
Kilang Selamat..MB
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=0MFxBkxNX6g
Waste Product Explained:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=1_7kdUomQ70
DURING A PSC (Parliamentary Select Committee) MEETING:
BalasPadamQuote 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)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjT1kUAy_08&feature=player_detailpage
Dato' Dr Looi Hoong Wah.
FAMM, MB., ChB(Manchester), MRCS(England), MRCP(UK), MRCP(London).
Comment by Anti-Lynas on article by Ahmad Ibrahim,
BalasPadamFellow 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
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjT1kUAy_08&feature=player_detailpage
.
BalasPadamANTI-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.
.
BalasPadamQUESTION 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.
.
BalasPadamQUOTE 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?
BalasPadamTHESE 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
*
CONFUSION ON THE SPECIFIC ACTIVITY OF THORIUM-232 IN ONE OF THE LYNAS "WASTE" STREAM.....6.2 Bq/g or 62 Bq/g ?
BalasPadamIt 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
*
http://kickdefella.net/2012/04/17/lynas-negligible-radiation-but-only-toxic-chemical-waste/#more-5242
MOST OLDER MALAYSIAN ADULTS HAD BEEN IN CLOSE PROXIMITY WITH ALMOST PURE THORIUM-232 !
BalasPadamREMEMBER 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
*
http://kickdefella.net/2012/04/17/lynas-negligible-radiation-but-only-toxic-chemical-waste/#more-5242
Quote:
BalasPadam"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.
*
http://kickdefella.net/2012/04/17/lynas-negligible-radiation-but-only-toxic-chemical-waste/#more-5242
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BalasPadamDO 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)
*
http://kickdefella.net/2012/04/17/lynas-negligible-radiation-but-only-toxic-chemical-waste/#more-5242
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BalasPadamQuote: 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
*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=0MFxBkxNX6g
*
BalasPadamThe Blackies (Black Shirts) and Greenies (Green Shirts) movement and many so-called NGOs have now been hijacked by the LOONIES and CRONIES of certain political parties.
They are not satisfied with trying very hard to destroy the livelihood of the 1,750 honest, hardworking people who depend on Lynas to put food on the table in order to feed their families.
THEY ARE NOW GOING AROUND THE COUNTRY DEMONstrating AGAINST INDUSTRIES, FACTORIES AND MINES IN CONSTITUENCIES THAT THEY ARE CONTESTING IN THE NEXT GENERAL ELECTION AND TRYING TO SMASH THE RICE BOWLS OF POOR BUT HONEST HARD WORKING FOLKS.
THE LATEST CASUALTY IS THE GOLD MINE IN RAUB WHERE 500 POOR SOULS WHO HAVE NO OTHER FORM OF EMPLOYMENT AND ARE TRYING VERY HARD TO eke out a livelihood BY TOILING DAILY IN THE RAIN, SUN AND HOT UNDERGROUND TUNNELS.
These IRRESPONSIBLE, BRAINLESS, DISGUSTING Greenies and Blackies a.k.a. LOONIES do not care 2 hoots about other people's livelihood and the health of other people's families.
ALL THEY CARE ABOUT IS MASSAGING THE EGO OF THEIR SUPREMELY EGOISTIC AND DEMONIC MASTER BRAINWASHER AND ENABLE HIM OR HER TO WIN THE NEXT GENERAL ELECTION !
As far as these brainwashed LOONIES are concerned, the country can go to hell, the poor workers can go to hell and the workers families can starve to death.
THEY WILL CONTINUE TO FLAUNT THEIR UNFLATTERING STUPIDITY FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT OF THE WORLD AUDIENCE !
Dato' Dr Looi
*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RPOGzrqu1Vg
*
http://kickdefella.net/2012/04/17/lynas-negligible-radiation-but-only-toxic-chemical-waste/#more-5242
*
BalasPadamQUOTE 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.
Answer:
THE THREE RARE EARTH SPECIALISTS FROM CHINA WHO WERE INVITED BY A FEW OF THE LOCAL ASSOCIATIONS TO ENLIGHTEN THE PEOPLE OF KUANTAN WERE RUDELY AND CRUDELY HARASSED BY THE SMSL 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 T^^GS 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
May Our Good Lord Have Mercy on Their Souls.
Dr Looi.
*
*
http://kickdefella.net/2012/04/17/lynas-negligible-radiation-but-only-toxic-chemical-waste/#more-5242
*
BalasPadam*
LYNAS MUST REMOVE ALL WASTE FROM MALAYSIA, SAY 4 CABINET MINISTERS.
Comment:
It does not make any sense to say that the waste must be exported... BECAUSE THERE IS NO WASTE !
HOW DO YOU EXPECT LYNAS TO EXPORT "NOTHING" FROM THE COUNTRY?
IT SOUNDS SILLY TO DEMAND THAT A RESPECTABLE INTERNATIONAL COMPANY (JUST TO MASSAGE THE INFLATED EGO OF THE ANTI-LYNAS IGNORAMUS), SHOULD EXPORT "NOTHING".
AND I WONDER WHO IN THIS WORLD WOULD LIKE TO IMPORT OUR "NOTHING".
A "waste" is by definition something that is unwanted and needs to be removed as a rubbish.
The residue from the Lynas operation is not unwanted for it can be easily converted into the 3 types of useful, profitable gypsum products.
The operation of the plant will result in the generation of three major residue streams, namely the
1. WLP .. Water Leach Purification Residue (WLP) from the cracking and separation process,
2. FGD .. the Flue Gas Desulphurisation Residue (FGD) from the waste gas treatment system (scrubber) and the
3. NUF .. Neutralisation Underflow Solids from the wastewater treatment process (NUF).
ORE FOR LYNAS PLANT ~ 1,600 ppm (parts per million)
TWO MOST VOLUMINOUS LYNAS "WASTE" = 12 ppm
3rd RESIDUE STREAM = 1,500 ppm of Thorium
AVERAGE MALAYSIAN SOIL = 20 ppm OF THORIUM
The first two are classified as non-radioactive as its radioactivity is only half that of Malaysian soil and is much much less radioactive than the SAND THAT YOUR CHILDREN PLAY WITH in our beaches.
Lynas will recycle them as synthetic gypsum for plaster board, magnesium rich synthetic gypsum as fertilizer and synthetic aggregate as clinker for road and other construction projects.
Gypsum is nothing more than just hydrated Calcium Sulphate (CaSO4.2(H2O) and comes probably from the neutralization of SO2 and Sulphuric acid vapour by our own Limestone (CaCO3) or Calcium Oxide in the scrubber.
The 3 types of Gypsum products are:
1. Iron Phospho Gypsum from the WLP with a very low NORM and radioactivity and after dilution according to international standard, can be used as clinker for road and in the construction industry.
2. Synthetic Gypsum with a radioactivity only 1/2 of Malaysian Soil.
3. Magnesium Rich Gypsum also with a radioactivity only 1/2 of Malaysian Soil and is a valuable fertilizer.
SO THE MAJOR PART OF THE RECYCLED RESIDUE PRODUCT ACTUALLY CONSISTS OF THE CALCIUM, SULPHATE AND WATER WHICH WERE BORN AND BRED IN MALAYSIA FOR BILLIONS OF YEARS.
THE MAJOR PART OF THE SO-CALLED RECYCLED "WASTE" IS ACTUALLY NATIVE TO MALAYSIA AND IN FACT HAS MORE RIGHT TO REMAIN IN MALAYSIA THAN THE ANTI-LYNAS NINCOMPOOPS !
The global market for synthetic gypsum is approximately 150 million tonnes per annum.
At the 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.
If we insist that these valuable by-products are not allowed to be used locally and must be exported even though they are much less radioactive than our soil, then our sanity and intelligence will be questionable AND MAKE OURSELVES THE LAUGHING STOCK OF THE WORLD.
THE BIGGEST POTENTIAL BUYER OF THESE PRODUCTS WILL BE COUNTRIES LIKE SINGAPORE WHERE THE PEOPLE ARE "kiasu" BUT HAS AN INTACT BRAIN, WHILE PEOPLE IN MALAYSIA ARE NOT "KIASU" BUT HAS NO GUTS AND "KIASI".
IT IS RATHER IRONIC THAT WE REFUSED TO SELL TO SINGAPORE SAND WHICH IS A CARCINOGEN AND HAS TWICE THE RADIOACTIVITY OF THE GYPSUM PRODUCTS and yet we want to send the gypsum products to them cheap!
DON'T YOU THINK THAT WE LOOK STUPID !
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
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BalasPadam*
Quote Kah Yau 14.12.12: "http://www.freemalaysiakini2.com/?p=28400." Unquote.
Quote: " Article in freemalaysiakini
China expert: Lynas’ waste recycle proposal outdated
Chun-Hua Yan, who is Cheung Kong professor of the College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, part of Peking University, said that recycling radioactive waste from a rare earth plant into gypsum, fertiliser and material for road construction, was the method adopted by China rare-earth plants in the early days and commented that it is an outdated method abandoned by China.
I'M NOT AN EXPERT IN THIS FIELD but I believe that was the road travelled by China before but not now,” he told the media after attending an international symposium on rare earth today in Kuala Lumpur
Yan claimed that radioactive leakage is not the hazardous risk of a rare earth plant because if the operator is willing to inject huge funds to bury the waste far from habitation and seismic areas, as well as isolated from groundwater and sealed, it would not be a problem." Unquote
Generally the most pressing problem for a rare earth plant, said Yan, is to deal with the fluorine gas produced during the fusion process.
Comment:
As is so clearly stated, the good Professor admitted that HE NOT AN EXPERT IN THIS FIELD.
He also said that radioactive leakage is not the hazardous risk of a rare earth plant!
SO IF RADIOACTIVITY IS NOT A HAZARDOUS RISK, WHY DO THE ANTI-LYNAS NINCOMPOOPS KEEP ON HARPING ABOUT RADIATION AND FUKUSHIMA FROM DAY 1 OF THE COMICAL ANTI-LYNAS DEBACLE?
Quote Nick Tsurikov: "RADIATION FROM THE PLANT WILL BE UNDETECTABLE OUTSIDE THE BOUNDARIES and
THORIUM IN OTHER WASTE IS INSOLUBLE AND CANNOT "POISON" ANY PLANTS, ANIMALS OR THE ENVIRONMENT - EVEN IN THEORY ".Unquote.
According to Prof. Chun-Hua Yan, THE MAIN HAZARD IS THE fluorine gas produced during the fusion process. He did not specify in which part of the process fluoride is used.
As far as I can remember getting rare-earth metals requires a multiple-step process.
First rare-earth oxides, like cerium, praseodymium and neodymium oxide powders are exposed to hydrogen fluoride gas.
This turns the oxide powder into a crystalline fluoride, such as the green praesodymium fluoride crystal.
A reduction reaction and further processing turns the rare-earth fluorides into their final, pure metal forms.
I AM NOT SURE WHETHER LYNAS SELLS THE REE IN THE OXIDE FORM OR FURTHER REFINE THEM INTO THE PURE REE METALS.
Molycorp is selling Cerium and Lanthanum as the oxides.
IF LYNAS SELLS ONLY RARE EARTH OXIDE OR CHLORIDE, NO HYDROGEN FLUORIDE IS NEEDED IN THE PROCESS.
BUT WHATEVER LYNAS DOES, THE CHEMICAL PROCESS HAS BEEN REFINED AND PERFECTED BY THE REE PLANT IN LA ROCHELLE, FRANCE.
THIS SAME PROCESS IS NOW BEING USED IN THE ULTRA-MODERN, STATE OF ART, SUPER SOPHISTICATED LYNAS REE PLANT (unlike the primitive refineries in China).
AND THE LA ROCHELLE PLANT HAS BEEN PRODUCING RARE EARTHS SAFELY AND WITHOUT CAUSING ANY PROBLEM TO THE SEASIDE TOURIST CITY OF LA ROCHELLE FOR OVER 40 YEARS !
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
*
BalasPadam*
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
BalasPadam:-)
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)
*
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.
Now the Japanese people can start eating their own food again and stop being as afraid. Source: United Nations
A very big report came out last month with very little fanfare.
IT CONCLUDED WHAT WE IN NUCLEAR SCIENCE HAVE BEEN SAYING FOR DECADES -
RADIATION DOSES LESS THAN ABOUT 10 rem ( 0.1 Sv ) ARE NO BIG DEAL.
(Note: 0.1 Sv = 100 mSv or 50,000 times Lynas worst case scenario)
The linear no-threshold dose hypothesis (LNT) does not apply to doses less than 10 rem (0.1 Sv), which is the region encompassing background levels around the world, and is the region of most importance to nuclear energy, most medical procedures and most areas affected by accidents like Fukushima.
The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) (UNSCEAR 2012) submitted the report that, among other things, states that uncertainties at low doses are such that UNSCEAR “does not recommend multiplying low doses by large numbers of individuals to estimate numbers of radiation-induced health effects within a population exposed to incremental doses at levels equivalent to or below natural background levels.”
You know, like everyone’s been doing since Chernobyl. Like everyone’s still doing with Fukushima.
Finally, the world may come to its senses and not waste time on the things that aren’t hurting us and spend time on the things that are.
And on the people that are in real need. Like the infrastructure and economic destruction wrought by the tsunami, like cleaning up the actual hot spots around Fukushima, like caring for the tens of thousands of Japanese living in fear of radiation levels so low that the fear itself is the only thing that is hurting them, like seriously preparing to restart their nuclear fleet and listening to the IAEA and the U.S. when we suggest improvements.
The advice on radiation in this report will clarify what can, and cannot, be said about low dose radiation health effects on individuals and large populations.
Background doses going from 250 mrem (2.5 mSv) to 350 mrem (3.5 mSv) will not raise cancer rates or have any discernable effects on public health.
Likewise, background doses going from 250 mrem (2.5 mSv) to 100 mrem (1 mSv) will not decrease cancer rates or effect any other public health issue.
Note – although most discussions are for acute doses (all at once) the same amount as a chronic dose (metered out over a longer time period like a year) is even less effecting. So 10 rem (0.1 Sv) per year, either as acute or chronic, has no effect, while 10 rem per month would.
UNSCEAR also found no observable health effects from last year’s nuclear accident in Fukushima. No effects.
The Japanese people can start eating their own food again, and moving back into areas only lightly contaminated with radiation levels that are similar to background in many areas of the world like Colorado and Brazil."
Dato' Dr Looi Hoong Wah
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2013/01/11/like-weve-been-saying-radiation-is-not-a-big-deal/
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BalasPadam*
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).
*
RINA YONG..... SEE HOW SHE "DO THE TWIST" ! ! !
Picture By Sandrinah Soo -
-
http://sphotos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/68968_233614773439147_1756884629_n.jpg
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BalasPadam*
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/
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BalasPadam*
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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BalasPadamQuote Ariel: "However much scientific data cannot erase the painful memories of the Bukit Merah incident." Unquote
COMMENT:
Pictures of a children with cerebral palsy, mental retardation as well as many other pictures with congenital defects and leukaemia 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, 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 HIROSHIMA 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).
*
http://kickdefella.net/2012/04/17/lynas-negligible-radiation-but-only-toxic-chemical-waste/#more-5242
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BalasPadam♥ :) ;) ♥ :) ;) ♥ :) ;) ♥ :) ;)
BACKGROUND RADIATION HAS FALLEN IN GEBENG SINCE LYNAS ACTIVATED THE PLANT ! ! !
FROM AELB, BACKGROUND RADIATION IN GEBENG:
MAY 2012 = 0.325 microSv/hr
JUNE 2012 = 0.330 microSv/hr
JULY 2012 = 0.319 microSv/hr
♥ Lynas Ore Concentrate arrive in Gebeng = 22.11.12
JAN 2013 = 0.216 microSv/hr
FEB 2013 = 0.217 microSv/hr
MAC 2013 = 0.226 microSv/hr
APRIL 2013 = 0.220 microSv/hr
Dato' Dr Looi Hoong Wah
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BalasPadam♥ :) ;) ♥ :) ;) ♥ :) ;) ♥ :) ;
85% OF LYNAS "WASTE" IS OF MALAYSIAN ORIGIN.
ANTI-LYNAS FOLKS STILL INSIST THAT THE SO-CALLED LYNAS WASTE BE SENT BACK TO AUSTRALIA.
ANNUAL PRODUCTION OF REE AND "WASTE"
(according to OEKO):
Annual import of Ore Concentrate = 65,000 tonnes
Annual production of REE = 22,500 tonnes
Therefore actual 'Waste" of Australian origin
= 65,000 - 22,500 = 42,500 tonnes per year
TOTAL "WASTE" from Lynas Plant = 290,400 tonnes/yr
consisting of
1. WLP = 64,000 tonnes/yr
2. FGD = 55,800 tonnes/yr
3. NUF = 170,600 tonnes/yr
THEREFORE AUSTRALIA CONTRIBUTES TO ONLY 14.5 % (42,000 divided by 290,400x100 %) of the so-called "waste" tonnage ! ! !
SO 85.5 % OF ALL THE "WASTE" PRODUCED BY LYNAS IS ACTUALLY NATIVE TO MALAYSIA.
AND HAS BEEN BORN AND BRED IN MALAYSIA FOR BILLIONS OF YEARS AND AS SUCH HAVE MORE RIGHT TO STAY IN MALAYSIA THAN ALL THE ANTI-LYNAS FOLKS !
DON'T YOU THINK THAT IT IS A SICK JOKE TO ASK AUSTRALIA TO TAKE "BACK" A SO-CALLED "WASTE" WHICH IS OF 85.5% MALAYSIAN ORIGIN ?
Dato' Dr Looi Hoong Wah
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BalasPadam♥ :) ;) ♥ :) ;) ♥ :) ;) ♥ :) ;)
IT IS RATHER ODD THAT ANY MATERIAL THAT HAS A RADIOACTIVITY OF BELOW 1.20 Bq/g IN THE USA OR EU CAN EVEN BE EATEN, WHEREAS IN MALAYSIA YOU NEED A SPECIAL LICENSE FROM AELB TO TRANSPORT THESE SAME MATERIAL iF IT'S RADIOACTIVITY IS MORE THAN 1 Bq/g !
Regulatory Limits On Radioactivity In Foods (in Bq/kg)*
USA FOODSTUFF = 1.20 Bq/g (1,200 Bq/kg)
E.U. FOODSTUFF = 1.25 Bq/g (1,250 Bq/kg)
Accepted global limits on radioactivity levels in foods is 1000 Bq/kg (1,200 Bq/kg in the U.S. and 1,250 Bq/g in the EU).
Dominated by cesium-137 and Sr-90, these levels were set by organizations like the IAEA and UNSCEAR after decades of study.
IN MALAYSIA, ANY MATERIAL THAT HAS A RADIOACTIVITY OF OVER 1 Bq/g WILL BE CONSIDERED TO BE RADIOACTIVE AND NEEDS AELB PERMISSION TO BE TRANSPORTED ! ! !
IN THE EU AND USA, BELOW 1.2 Bq/g IS CONSIDERED
to be non-radioactive for transport purpose AND IF IT IS EDIBLE IS ALSO FIT TO BE EATEN ! ! !
In the vast majority of the countries, any material which has an activity of 10 Bq/g or less may be transported internationally as an ordinary non-hazardous material from a radiation safety point of view.
Because the 1989 Malaysian Transport Regulations are closely based on the out-of-date 1985 IAEA Transport Regulations, any material that contains Uranium and Thorium with a combined activity of just 1 Bq/g needs to be regulated by AELB.
BECAUSE OF THIS, WE HAVE THE RATHER COMICAL SITUATION OF THE LYNAS ORE CONCENTRATE BEING TRANSPORTED AS A NON-RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL FROM AUSTRALIA TO SINGAPORE AND MAGICALLY BECOMES "RADIOACTIVE" WHEN IT ENTERS MALAYSIAN WATERS ! ! !
Dato' Dr Looi