Medical Aspects of Chemical Warfare (2008) - The Black Vault

Medical Aspects of Chemical WarfareStatus of the Russian Federation Chemical WeaponsDemilitarizationBy far the most challenging chemical weapon demilitarizationis taking place in the Russian Federation,which inherited its chemical weapons stocks from theSoviet Union. The Russians declared 32,480 metric tonsof nerve agents (sarin, soman, VX), and another 7,700metric tons of vesicants (sulfur mustard, lewisite, andcombined sulfur mustard-lewisite) at seven storagesites 115 (Table 4-8).Russian destruction of chemical weapons employsa two-step chemical inactivation and detoxificationstrategy. The CWC time schedule for agent destructionapplies to the first chemical step, which eliminates theagent, although the resulting product residues requirefurther treatment.The establishment of the Russian chemical destructionprogram in 1996, set to take place at seven facilities,was followed by several years of delay due to economicinstability and a lack of intragovernmental coordination,which undermined the willingness of outsidenations to offer financial aid. Program planning waslacking in technological detail, scheduling, and costanalysis. Further issues included poor public transparency,bureaucratic unresponsiveness, burdensome andexpensive visa requirements, and contracting issues. 116In 2002 the G8 Global Partnership against Proliferationof Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction encouragedother nations to support Russia in eliminatingTable 4-8RUSSIAN FEDERATION STOCKPILEDESTRUCTION *SiteMetricTonsPercent ofStockpilePercentageDestroyedShchuch’ye 5,435 13.6 0Gornyy 1,159 2.9 100Kambarka 6,355 15.9 83Leonidovka 6,874 17.2 0Maradykova6,954 17.4 63Pochep 7,513 18.8 0Kizner 5,675 14.2 0Total 39,965 100 27*Status as of March/April 2008Data source: Green Cross International Web site. Available at: http://gci.ch/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1). AccessedAugust 18, 2008.its vast chemical stockpile. Since that time, with theincreased obligation of foreign funds from the UnitedStates and other (mostly European) nations and thestrengthening of the Russian economy, the Russianprogram has undergone profound development, mostnotably since 2004. Russia increased its investment inchemical agent demilitarization from $186 million in2004 to real and projected spending on the order of abillion dollars each year for the 2007–2009 period. Thecountry also met the CWC’s 1% and 20% destructionmilestones on schedule. 117–119By the end of 2007 Russia estimated that its eliminationprogram would total about $7.18 billion, of which$2 billion would be provided by other nations. The UScommitment to the overall effort, totaling just over abillion dollars, is limited to constructing a CW eliminationfacility at Shchuch’ye. By 2007 foreign funds hadcontributed about $430 million to Russia’s chemical demilitarizationprogram, with $240 million expected thefollowing year. The country has substantially fundedits own program. Of the three sites having achievedoperational status by 2007, the Maradykovsky facilitywas entirely internally funded. Germany providedextensive support for the cost of the Kambarka andGornyy facilities. 120Gornyy, now closed, was the first operational facility,and eliminated all of its stocks of lewisite, sulfurmustard, and mixed vesicants by December 2005. InJune and August of 2006, the Kambarka and Maradykovskyfacilities became operational, and by Marchand April of 2008, these had destroyed 5,279 and 4,394metric tons of agent, or 83% and 63% of the agent stockpiles,respectively. Kambarka contained 80 metric-toncontainers of lewisite, and aerial bombs containingnerve agent were stored at Maradykovsky. 116The US contribution to Russian chemical weaponsdemilitarization is mediated through the Nunn-LugarCooperative Threat Reduction Program, which wasestablished under the Nunn-Lugar Act of 1991, and isfocused on Shchuch’ye. Shchuch’ye was recognizedas a potential site for the theft and proliferation ofchemical weapons munitions because its nearly 2 millionportable chemical artillery shells are surroundedby an economically impoverished population. TheUnited States initially provided funding to help securethe facility, but has also funded one of two destructionfacilities there. US release of $160 million in start-upfunds was delayed until 2003. Although operationswere set to begin at Shchuch’ye in 2006, they have beendelayed for an estimated 2 to 3 years. 121Of the three remaining destruction sites in Russia,Leonidovka is reported to be under construction, whilePochep and Kizner are known to be either in the planningphase or possibly developing early infrastructure.144