Chem Demil Delay

Looks like the United States isn't the only country that will miss a deadline to destroy its chemical weapons stockpile. According to today's issue of Defense Environment Alert:

Russia has conceded it will miss by three years a legally binding deadline of 2012 for destroying its massive stockpile of chemical weapons, the top official overseeing compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), an international treaty on chemical weapons destruction, announced late last month.

Russia joins the United States in conceding the deadline will not be met by the two countries possessing the largest stockpiles, but the treaty's overseer believes the key goal of getting the stockpiles destroyed is not in jeopardy.

The Russian Federation -- which is the largest possessor state of chemical weapons with a declared stockpile of 40,000 metric tons -- recently indicated it will not meet the CWC's April 12, 2012, destruction deadline, according to Global Green USA, an environmental organization that monitors weapons' destruction campaigns. Rogelio Pfirter, director-general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) -- the entity that oversees compliance with the treaty -- made the announcement in The Hague at the beginning of the 61st OPCW Executive Council meeting, held June 29-July 2.

"((G))iven the excellent track record and firm commitment to the implementation of the Convention consistently shown by the Russian Federation and by the United States of America, the key goal of achieving the total and irreversible destruction of their declared stockpiles is, in my view, not in question," Pfirter stated, according to a June 29 Global Green press release. "Indeed, both these countries have consistently shown their resolve to abide by their commitments under the Convention and I for one have no doubt that they will continue to stay on track."

Russia's announcement signals "a more realistic schedule for destruction," says Paul Walker, director of the security and sustainability program with Global Green, in the press release. "By extending the planning schedule from 2012 to 2015, Russia is recognizing that it's more important to meet safety and security requirements rather than deadlines." He says so far Russia has destroyed almost half of its stockpile.

The United States in 2006 signaled it would not be able to meet the 2012 deadline either, and in 2007, DOD formally certified a plan to stretch out the cost and schedule for destroying weapons at two of its sites, citing tightening annual budgets. Now, the United States has shortened that a little, expecting to finish in 2021, while Congress passed legislation in recent years calling for the United States to complete destruction by 2017.

The United States has eliminated 74 percent of its 28,600 metric tons of chemical weapons, according to Global Green.