Russia soon to commission chemical weapon destruction works

Gorny township in the Saratov Region on the Volga is the site of a factory which will destroy Russian chemical arsenals. Now under construction, it will be commissioned toward the year's end.

More than 1,200 tons of poisonous agents have been stockpiled in the factory depots-in particular, 680 tons of mustard gas, 275 tons of lewisite, 180 tons of their mixture, and 30 tons of another horrible cocktail-lewisite, mustard gas and ethylene dichloride, Zinovi Pak, Russian Munitions Agency director, said to Novosti.

There are no poisonous substances in factory workshops, and all machinery is tested on water and other harmless substances, he reassured.

Factory commissioning has been put off for safety reasons, when Unit Two, to destroy mustard gas, is ready. Unit One, to specify in lewisite, has been assembled and will start work only after Unit Two construction stops.