LYNAS TO FADE AS FUZIAH'S LOST CAUSE
She was asking others to be rationale now. Extract from The Mole report here.
In a follow-up post, , blogger Apanama pointed to Pas Hulu Langat MP Dr Che Rosli Che Mat's statement where the trained nuclear scientist criticised the anti-Lynas group -- which includes PKR's Kuantan MPFuziah Salleh -- for disregarding expert opinions on the matter.
Fuziah, when contacted, had a different version to the rare earth magnet producing factory in Shah Alam. She claimed the rare earth magnet producing factory in Selangor and the Lynas rare earth plant in Gebeng, Kuantan were two separate matters.
[Oh really?]
The PKR vice president said, "rare earth element in Shah Alam factory is not radioactive as it has already been processed."
"Lynas is the rare earth ore processing plant which processes the rare earth element such as crushing and extracting it, while leaving the waste that contains radioactive. Thus the factory in Shah Alam is safe as it only involves downstream activity".
Fuziah also took time to explain that she was not totally against development but was concerned about the safety of the people and the environment. She also denied politicising the issue.
She spoke too soon. Still ... her attempt to explain carries no weight for this graduate in psychology and business.
Her fellow party member in which the Gebeng plant is located, Azan Ismail for Indera Mahkota echoed Hadi Awang sentiment to say below in the Mole here also:
Azan Ismail broke his silence yesterday, explaining why he has not taken the lead to champion issues in his own constituency.
Azan told The Mole, "Firstly I don't want to mislead the public by giving wrong facts. I am not a nuclear expert, so I take a stand not to give wrong facts and impressions to public especially over the nuclear or environmental aspect of it."
"I leave it to experts to make such evaluations so we can get better feedbacks,” he reasoned.
Fuziah ... stick to your own constituency. And also your own expertise. Three commentators in The Unspinners explained well.
One claimed to live near the Agensi Nuklear Malaysia where lies a small radioactive reactor and there is no environmental problem.
Another asked:
Di Perak kilang amang berlambak-lambak. Sisa-sisa ditinggalkan berlonggok kat tepi jalan. Dia punya kadar radioaktiviti beratus kali ganda lagi tinggi dari Lynas. Kenapa puak DAP tak protes? Sebab tauke kilang tu kaum dia?
Another gave a lesson of rare earth below:
To those cina ahbeng and melayu tak sedar diri who had attended the Perhimpunan Hijau last Sunday (26.2.2012), I would like to share with you some solid facts about Rare Earth metals:
1. Smartphones, like your iPhones and Androids, will not be able to vibrate without a small, powerful Rare Earth magnet made of Neodymium (Element 60).
2. The heart of a wind turbine is a permanent magnet that's made from Neodymium (Element 60).
3. Each Toyota Prius contains 5 pounds of Lanthanum (Element 57) and 2.2 pounds of Neodynium (Element 60). Refer attached photo for more information.
4. Speakers used to be made with huge iron magnets. Substitute a Neodymium (Element 60) rare earth magnet, and you get earbud headphones and smartphone speakers.
5. Compact energy-saving fluorescent light bulbs, rely on a coating of rare earth metal Terbium (Element 65) to create a bright white glow.
6. Military relies heavily on rare earths. A coating of Yttrium (Element 65), which can withstand huge amounts of heat, is found inside jet exhaust systems.
7. Samarium (Element 62), which is resistant to radiation that would come from a nuclear or magnetic field attack, is key to magnets in missiles and other weapons.
8. You could watch TV in color without Rare Earth elements, but it will be dull. Think of those dim, barely color images from the 1950's. In the 1960's, Europium (Element 63) was added to TV screens, bringing brilliant reds. Terbium (Element 65), amped up the green hues.
9. Cerium (Element 58) is the most abundant rare earth metal. It is used in catalytic converters and other pollution control equipment. It’s also added to diesel fuel to help it burn more efficiently. Which means you will find Rare Earth metals in almost all vehicles on the road!
10. Dysprosium (Element 66) is used in lasers, fuel injectors, compact discs, and increasingly in hybrid vehicles.
11. Europium (Element 63) is a part of the chemical process to screen for Down’s syndrome.
12. Erbium (Element 68) is used to produce photographic filters, sunglasses, jewelry, and fiber optical amplifiers.
13. Holmium (Element 67) has the greatest magnetic strength of any element, and is used in medical/dental and nuclear control rods.
Before you reject rare earths, please understand that we are one way or another a beneficiary of these metals. Rare earth elements are neither rare, nor earth. The name dates to the 18th and 19th centuries, when the elements were first isolated out of actually rare minerals. Lanthanum (Element 57), first discovered in 1893, is a great example of this. There's more lanthanum on this planet than silver or lead and it's the second most abundant rare earth element, but there weren't a lot of uses for it in the early days.
So totally rejecting Rare Earths (like holding a placard saying "Anti-Rare Earth") will be completely hypocritical on oneself, unless one dares to proclaim that he/she doesn't benefit from any of the 13 points I've stated above, by which if it is the case, I humbly apologize for stereotyping.
Before protesting, you should have a clear conscience that you are promoting and demanding responsible, safe handling of radioactive wastes by Lynas, not to reject them. Because if radioactivity by rare earths is truly the main reason why one rejects this plant, I am very sorry to inform that we are, at this very present moment, already exposed to plenty of them through the devices that we use in our daily lives.
And please don't throw your used plastic bottles and polystyrene packaging all over the place. There's plenty of garbage bins around the field.
Unless she is an expert and there experts backing her, Lynas is Fuziah's lost cause.
Posted by The Unspinners
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