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Russian Munitions Agency

Chemical Disarmament

CW Destruction Technologies

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Victor Ivanovich Kholstov was appointed as Director General of Russian Munitions Agency
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Chemical Weapons | Facilities of Former CW Production | Facilities of CW Stockpiling and Destruction | CW Destruction Technologies | Safety Problems of CW Stockpiling and Destruction | Chemical Terrorism | Implementation Problems of the CW Convention

CW destruction
Russian technologies for CW destruction

Russian Technologies for CW Destruction

The essential requirement of the Convention when developing technologies for CW destruction is to provide human beings safety and environment protection. The Russian two-stage method has been acknowledged by the independent examination comission of IUPAC as a suitable one for destruction of chemical warfare agents.
Basic principles of Russian technology are:
  • Discreteness. The simultaneous participation in detoxication process of limited quantity of chemical agent, contained in one munition, that ensures its quick localization in an emergency. While the content of one munition is not sent to decontamination solution, the next munition will not be opened. The reaction products are being held in a reactor until then, while the analysis (a combination of biochemical and physicochemical methods) will not fix the absence of warfare agent in the reaction mass.
  • Periodicity. Supply of next munitions batch to reaction chamber only after the completion of deactivation of chemical agent from previous batch.
  • Two-stage method. As soon as the warfare chemical agent is completely destroyed the generated reaction mass is put on retreatment with obligatory use of other decontaminant. The stages can be separated in space and time, that creates certain advantages both in processing of reaction mass in product for commercial purposes, and in respect of conventional problems and creation of constructive public view around CW destruction facilities.

Technological scheme of destruction of chemical munitions

The first CW destruction stage

Neutralization of chemical agent in munition by nucleophilic reagents

Package destruction

Roasting of munition's body

The second CW destruction stage

Treatment by calcium hydroxide in medium of bitumen at the temperature higher than 100°Ñ

In result of this process reaction mass with mean lethal dose of LD50>1,500 mg/kg (the 3rd class of danger) is produced

In result of this process bitumen-salt mass with mean lethal dose of LD50>5,000 mg/kg (the 4th class of danger) is produced



Technology for destruction of organophosphorus chemical agents (Scheme 78,7 kb)
Technology for destruction of mustard and mustard-lewisite mixtures (Scheme 67,8 kb)
Technology for destruction of lewisite (Scheme 80,5 kb)