Re: [CPEO-MEF] CHEMWEAPONS: The challenge of destroying Syria's stockpile

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

People have been asking ...

The best recent summary I know of the four rapidly deployable  
technologies for chemical weapons demilitarization is in Chapter 4  
(pages 57-65) of the 2012 National Research Council (National  
Academies of Sciences) report, "Remediation of Buried Chemical  
Warfare Materiel." To access the report, go to http://www.nap.edu/ 
catalog.php?record_id=13419.

I did not serve on the committee that prepared the report, but I was  
a peer reviewer.

Lenny

On Sep 11, 2013, at 2:08 PM, Lenny Siegel wrote:

> The Russian proposal to control and dispose of Syrian chemical  
> weapons has already helped defuse the rush to another American War  
> in the Middle East, and if implemented it should reduce the risk of  
> lethal chemical attacks locally and regionally. While President  
> Obama's threat to attack Syria got everyone's attention, I believe  
> the principal basis of the Russian proposal is Russian self- 
> interest, not the prospect of "limited" cruise missile attacks on  
> the Syrian military.
>
> If the diplomats work out the principles for sequestering and  
> eliminating Syrian chemical warfare materiel, the hard work begins.  
> The destruction of the U.S. chemical stockpile, non-stockpile  
> weapons, and productions facilities has take more than two decades,  
> cost billions of dollars, and remains incomplete. But we've learned  
> a lot in the process.
>
> Technologies exist for safe demilitarization and disposal of both  
> chemical munitions and bulk chemical agent, so in the rush to  
> eliminate these weapons, there is no need to just blow them up.  
> Also, given the both the security and environmental risks,  
> transportation of lethal munitions and agent should be minimized or  
> at least carefully weighed. The immediate task should be to send to  
> Syria proven mobile equipment which can be operated where small  
> stockpiles are located. Then larger fixed facilities, perhaps at  
> the site of Syria's chemical weapons production facilities, should  
> be designed to dispose of larger quantities.
>
> Care should be taken to prevent the release of chemical agent and  
> products of incomplete combustion such as dioxins, as well as to  
> reduce the likelihood of system failure, but no one expects the  
> volume of regulatory paperwork associated with the U.S. destruction  
> program. Again, much has been learned globally over the past two  
> decades about how to safely, if not economically, do away with the  
> chemical threat.
>
> The initial focus should be on chemical munitions and bulk chemical  
> agent, but over time plans must also be made to dismantle  
> production facilities, as well as to dispose of hazardous chemical  
> feedstocks (if they are still present) and the waste products of  
> treatment.
>
> If practical, the Syrian people who live near storage sites,  
> transportation routes, and destruction facilities should be  
> informed and given the opportunity to comment on disposal plans.  
> But in the midst of a vicious civil war, in a county with weak  
> experience in democratic participation, such public participation  
> is probably a pipe dream.
>
> So I suggest that the demilitarization process be transparent in  
> real time, with cameras documenting key activities for either live  
> or delayed streaming to the Internet. Such transparency could  
> establish confidence, globally as well as locally, that Syrian  
> weapons are indeed being destroyed and that the disposal process is  
> not threatening the health and safety of the nearby population.  
> They have enough to worry about.
>
> Lenny
>
> --
>
> Lenny Siegel
> Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
> a project of the Pacific Studies Center
> 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
> Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
> Fax: 650/961-8918
> <lsiegel@cpeo.org>
> http://www.cpeo.org
>
> _______________________________________________
> Military mailing list
> Military@lists.cpeo.org
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--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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