Pochep plant almost finishes scrapping VX munitions
BRYANSK. May 10 (Interfax-AVN) - A new production line is being installed at the Pochep plant in the Bryansk region to begin disposal of sarin and soman war gases this year simultaneously with scrapping of the last VX munitions.
The announcement was made at a conference attended by Russian Deputy Industry and Trade Minister Georgy Kalamanov supervising the federal chemical disarmament target program and director of the ministry's department for convention commitments Viktor Kholstov, a source in the Federal Department for Safe Storage and Disposal of Chemical Weapons told Interfax-AVN.
He said the conference set the task of successful and safe completion of disposal of chemical armaments and refocus of the plants towards production of salable goods.
The Pochep plant stores Russia's biggest stock of organophosphorus compounds of the latest generation - in all, 7,547 tons of chemical agents. More than 59% of the stock has been disposed of since the moment of the plant startup on November 26, 2010. The VX stock is practically gone. The remaining 3,064 tons of sarin and soman are due to be disposed of in the next two years. "There are no impediments to that," Kholstov said.