GORNY, Saratov Region. Aug 21 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Ammunition Agency regards as a top priority maintenance of security of the people living in the areas adjacent to the chemical weapons scrapping facility in Gorny and employed at the facility, the agency's director general Zinovy Pak said here on Wednesday.
About 20 substantial research, development and test programs have been carried out in order to back up advanced technical solutions and ensure safety of the population and environment, Pak told Interfax-Military News Agency.
"Changes and additions made by the Russian Ammunition Agency during the facility's development made it possible to reduce the number of dangerous operations four times," he went on. Several dangerous phases have been left out of the poisonous substances destruction process, he noted.
The facility consisting of lewisite and yperite destruction lines will be put in operation in December 2002, Pak said. At least 400t of chemical poisonous substances are to be destroyed here before April 2003 to meet Russia's commitment to destroy one percent of its chemical weapons stocks of Category One. As much as 1,142t of poisonous substances will be scrapped in Gorny before 2005.
End products of the chemical weapons destruction process will be no more toxic than many chemical products widely used in the chemical industry, the director said. "Storage and processing of detoxication products will take place at chemical facilities of the Russian Ammunition Agency that have all the necessary infrastructure for such work. Thus, a series of state missions will be accomplished, including provision of additional workload to industrial facilities that are idling because of comprehensive conversion, employment of skilled specialists, etc.
"In addition, the facility is important because its example will be used in the construction and operation of the full-scale facility in Kambarka, the Udmurtian autonomous republic, with a mission to destroy 20 percent of chemical weapons by 2007," Pak said.