A Russian chemical weapons disposal facility has eliminated the 6.4-metric-ton stockpile of lewisite stored in bulk containers at the Kambarka depot in Udmurtia, ITAR-Tass reported yesterday (see GSN, Nov. 11, 2008).
Waste produced through chemical neutralization of the blister agent is being processed to produce dry salts that will be stored at Kambarka and later reprocessed at another location. Workers are also decontaminating 80 containers that once held the warfare material.
Russia possessed the world's largest stockpile of chemical agents, an arsenal that stood at 40,000 metric tons before disposal operations began. It has pledged to meet the April 2012 Chemical Weapons Convention deadline for full elimination of the arsenal, though some observers doubt whether the nation can achieve that goal (ITAR-Tass, April 1).