MOSCOW. Nov 11 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia has not had a single accident, pertaining to storing combat chemical agents, throughout the ongoing chemical weapon disposal program.
"There have not been any accidents, involving chemical weapon storage facilities. Dangerous chemical munitions at combat chemical agent storage facilities are disposed of in compliance with the procedure adopted with the help of available equipment of magnetic sites and in accordance with safety rules and environmental regulations," Vyacheslav Kulebyakin, state secretary and deputy director general of the Russian Ammunition Agency, noted in his speech at the public forum-dialog, devoted to chemical disarmament, on Tuesday.
He emphasized that given the rising terrorist threat, in 2001-2002 special attention was paid to improving the protection and security systems of chemical weapon storage facilities, as well as other security measures. Kulebyakin said that combat chemical agent storage facilities had worked out plans on combating terrorism and cleared them with local authorities, regional bodies of the Russian Interior Ministry, and the Federal Security Service.
"Given the likelihood of both single dangerous munitions and small batches of such munitions, certain measures on keeping personnel on high alert and providing equipment, designed to dispose of such munitions on short notice, have been taken," Kulebyakin said.
He stressed that the task of conducting overhauls of storage facilities and constructions on the chemical weapon storage premises remained of paramount importance.
Kulebyakin said that the chemical weapon disposal facility, deployed in a village of Gorny, outside Saratov, had not had a single case of acute professional poisoning among its personnel throughout its operation.
Kulebyakin also noted that Russia had lived up to its commitments on disposing of second- and third-category chemical weapons (powder charges and phosgene) ahead of schedule.