The United States destroys the last chemical weapons in its military arsenal

2023-07-07 19:15:31, Kosova & Bota CNA

In the factories of the US army in Kentucky and Colorado, an important step is being taken in the history of combat armaments, which have their beginnings since the First World War. Workers are destroying missiles filled with nerve gas. These are the last chemical weapons that the United States has declared as part of its arsenal, the destruction of which was undertaken as a commitment by joining the Chemical Weapons Convention.

By destroying the last chemical munitions, the United States underscores that these types of weapons are no longer acceptable on the battlefield and sends a message to countries that have not become part of the 26-year-old agreement to eliminate them.

" We are saving the United States from these stockpiles of chemical weapons, which will no longer harm any person or community. Mission accomplished ," says Kim Jackson, head of the chemical weapons destruction plant.

At the army's chemical depot in Pueblo, Colorado, work had begun since 2016 on the complete destruction of chemical weapons. In the United States, there were about 800,000 chemical nerve agent munitions stored in underground bunkers near large farms in Pueblo.

While in Kentucky, sarin and VX nerve gas munitions were also kept, most of them placed inside rockets since the 1940s. Their destruction began in 2019 with a process that realizes the fusion of the deadly agents.

Workers at Pueblo carefully and slowly move the weapons to safe rooms, where remote-controlled robots do the dangerous work of removing the toxic agent, which was designed to cause skin lacerations, eye, nose, throat and lung irritation.

Robotic devices remove the explosive material before the nerve agent is neutralized with hot water and mixed with a solution that prevents a possible future reaction. Next, the material is put into large containers filled with microbes, while the remaining shells are decontaminated with heat of nearly 540 degrees Celsius and sent for metal recycling.

" This is important since the United States has made a commitment to destroy its arsenal of chemical weapons... Their destruction closes an important chapter in military history, but one that we very much wanted to close," said Assistant Secretary Kingston Reif . of Defense for Arms Control.

With the completion of the process in both factories, the surrounding communities will now face the economic consequences of the completion of these multi-year projects, which had created thousands of jobs and attracted highly qualified professionals./ VOA