Mobile Systems for Chemical Weapons Demilitarization: Recovery, Identification and Disposal, by Kirill Babievsky & Evgenii Aleksandrov Kirill Babievsky (babievsk@mail.ru)
Institute of Organoelement Compounds, Russian Academy of Sciences,
Evgenii Aleksandrov (aleksandrov@center.chph.ras.ru)
Institute for Biochemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences
Environmental Security and Public Safety, pp. 71-80, 2007 Springer
Abstract. The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) classifies chemical agents into different classes according to the risks they pose to the objective and purpose of the Convention. This includes the destruction of stockpiled materials, as well as of old and abandoned agents and remnants.
Today, although it has been more than eighty years since the and of World War I, old chemical weapons munitions and remnants still pose a serious danger to mankind and the environment in many countries.
The discovery and disposal of old chemical weapons is an ongoing and unpredictable process. For the most part, these weapons are obsolete or leaking and pose a real threat to the nearby environs. With regard to the technologies used to destroy old chemical munitions or remnants, the most common approach is a time-consuming and hazardous procedure.
It is important to note that the possibility of the use of new technologies is much higher at small-scale disposal sites, in comparison to large-scale and continuously operating facilities designed for the destruction of chemical weapons stockpiles.
An efficient regime to ensure the safety of the population at large requires a well organized system of ecological monitoring, where systems assessments and evaluations, based on information and data specific to the region in question, play critical roles. |