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ABC-Abwehr-Soldaten der US-Army_Foto_U.S. Army, William Duval — NBC defense soldiers of the US Army (Photo: US Army / William Duval)

USA has destroyed the world's last declared chemical weapons

July 12, 2023

On July 7, the last rocket containing the chemical nerve agent sarin in the US military arsenal was destroyed at the Blue Grass Army Depot in Richmond, Kentucky. The month before, the last mustard gas munitions had been neutralized at the Chemical Army Depot in Pueblo, Colorado. “The destruction by the United States of declared stockpiles of chemical weapons in a safe and environmentally sound manner was a difficult task that took many years to accomplish,” said Douglas Bush, Army Department chief of acquisition, logistics and technology. on July 10 at a press conference at the Pentagon.

In total, the United States destroyed more than 30,000 tons of declared chemical warfare agents, which were contained in almost 3.5 million rounds of chemical ammunition, more than 22,500 one-ton containers and more than 50,500 bottles. Almost 90 percent of these weapons had already been rendered harmless by 2012. The last ten percent or so represented the greatest technical and financial challenge.

On July 7th, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) announced that the last chemical weapon in the world's declared stockpiles of all parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) had been "irreversibly destroyed" in the USA. The US Senate ratified the CWC in 1997 after it was adopted by the UN Conference on Disarmament in Geneva in 1992. Effective April 29, 1997, 87 nations – including the United States – joined the international treaty, allowing the CWC to enter into force. Also on April 29, 1997, the OPCW was founded with its headquarters in The Hague to monitor compliance and implementation of the CWC.

Only Egypt, North Korea and South Sudan have neither signed nor ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention to this day. Israel signed the CWC in 1993 but has not yet ratified it.

Gerd Portugall

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