Chemical weapons destruction Belgium

Jean Pascal Zanders, The Destruction of Old Chemical Weapons in Belgium , in Stock and Lohs, eds. The Challenge of Old Chemical Munitions and Toxic Armament Wastes, pp. 197-230 Graham S. Pearson and Richard S. Magee, Critical Evaluation of Proven Chemical Weapon Destruction Technologies , Pure and Applied Chemistry... 

Zanders, J.P. 1997. The destruction of old chemical weapons in Belgium. Pp. 197-230 in The Challenge of Old Chemical Munitions and Toxic Armament Wastes. T. Stock and K. Lohs, eds. Oxford, England Oxford University Press. 

Can the technology be implemented within 3 to 5 years Yes. Already has been implemented in Belgium. Yes. Already has been implemented in Japan. Yes. Being implemented at German government chemical weapon destruction facility. Yes, in full use now. 

De Bisschop, Fl.C., and T. Blades. 2002. Destruction of Chemical Weapons Evaluation of the Donovan Contained Detonation Chamber (CDC) in Poelkapelle, Belgium. ECBC-SP-010, July. Aberdeen Proving Ground,... 

Overall Employed routinely in Belgium for recovered CWM tested extensively at Porton Down. Mature process has been used but only for one application in Japan. Very well engineered designed specifically for chemical munition destruction. Mature, well-engineered process for conventional munitions has demonstrated ability to destroy agent and is acquiring experience with chemical weapons, both inert and containing explosives. Fully mature. 

Friedman, L. 2007. Pine Bluff Explosive Destruction System (PBEDS). Presented at the 10th International Chemical Weapons Demilitarisation Conference in Brussels, Belgium, May. Available online at http //www. dstl.gov.uk/conferences/cwd/2007/. Last accessed on February 17, 2009. 

Several versions of the TDC have been used extensively for the destruction of chemical weapons. A TC-10 system and a TC-60 system were used at Poelkapelle in Belgium to destroy 3,200 recovered chemical munitions. A TC-25 system was tested at Porton Down in the United Kingdom in 2003. A TC-60 was extensively tested at Porton Down from 2004 to 2006. As described in Chapter 3, this same system was permitted and operated at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii to destroy 71 munitions containing phosgene and chloropicrin. CH2M HILL claims that the Army owns this TC-60 system, and it might be made available for Requirement BG-2.Of special interest is the upgrading of the system at Porton Down between 2004 and 2006 and... 

The CWC reqnires the verified destruction of all chemical weapons. The destruction of such stockpiles must be completed no later than 29 April 2012. However, it is increasingly likely that Russia and the United States will not be able to meet this deadline. In addition, the final destruction of old and/or abandoned chemical weapons will probably take decades since such weapons continue to be uncovered each week (e.g., in Belgium). It should also be noted that chemical weapons dumped at sea before January 1985 or buried before January 1977 and which remain buried are not covered by the declaration and destraction requirements of the CWC. As a result, there is no obligation under the agreement for the parties to recover and to destroy these weapons, although hundreds of thousands of metric tons of chemical weapons have been dumped or buried worldwide. There is periodic support expressed for recovering or otherwise securing dumped chemical weapons. 

Zanders, J.P. (1993) The destruction of old chemical munitions in Belgium, in T. Stock K. Lohs (eds.). The challenge of old and abandoned chemical weapons, SIPRI, Stockholm (in press). 

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