Chemical weapons
As the New York Times reported, on July 7, the last ammunition filled with a toxic substance was destroyed in the United States. Thus, the United States became the last State in the world to eliminate its chemical weapons.
The readiness to destroy this most dangerous type of weapons of mass destruction within 10 years after the entry into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1997 was declared by most of the countries in which it was in service. In particular, Russia completed its liquidation in September 2017. However, the United States was in no hurry, citing the huge reserves of its chemical weapons and the complexity of the process of its safe disposal. It consists of the following. The chemical munition is placed in a sealed chamber, where it is first drilled using robotic devices, freed from the toxic substance(s), which is subjected to drying, and the inside of the munition is washed and then fired, making it completely safe.
Chemical weapons
The extracted dried S are dissolved in hot water and neutralized. For example, mustard gas and nerve gases are neutralized, respectively, with special bacteria and caustic soda. The remaining liquid is burned. X-rays are used to check the tightness of the chamber where the waste is disposed of. This technology is as safe as possible. Earlier, for decades, chemical weapons were disposed of in a much more dangerous way — they were placed in special sealed containers that were flooded in different areas of the world's oceans.
Alexander Ageev
