Regulation review of radioactive mineral as by product of tin mining activities to accelerate industrialization process

Currently, the rare earth element plays a very strategic role in the world, because almost all modern industrial products such as electronics, health, batteries, automotive, space vehicles and weapon equipment use rare earth elements to improve performance, quality and accuracy of products. Most of the rare earth elements (REEs) in Indonesia are in the form of monazite which is a radioactive mineral. Regulation to process REEs will of course also refer to nuclear regulation. Indonesia has the potential to develop an industry based on rare earth elements. Indonesia has natural resources as the form of monazite mineral which is a by-product of tin mining. Indonesia also has potential resources as a primary source in various regions, but it still requires intensive exploration to obtain measurable resources. Various researches have been conducted in order to master the extraction technology of rare earth elements, starting from the separation of monazite which is a radioactive mineral, separation of several elements in the form of oxides, application of rare earth elements. Research has been carried out on laboratory and pilot plant scale. The production of rare earth in the world is controlled by China, so that many developed countries are hunting for obtaining rare earth resources including from Indonesia to reduce dependence on China. Indonesia realized that monazite is a strategic material, so Indonesia has taken a policy of not exporting in the form of raw material, but must process first, at least to rare earth oxides for export, for medium term goals. The objective of the research is to provide a recommendation on existing regulation and policies, so that the radioactive mineral processing industry can run well as soon as possible. The most crucial problems are that there is no guaranteed stock of raw materials. Raw materials are controlled by various parties so that they have not reached critical mass for industry. Currently there is no clear governance as a guide for industry players, and local technology that has not been proven. Recommendations for regulations and policies that need to be proposed immediately are the preparation of Draft Government Regulations related to the management of radioactive minerals, and encouraging cooperation between research institutes and industry for the provision of proven technology.