Mediterranean Sea To Possibly Become Site of Chemical Weapons Dump 174
An anonymous reader writes "The organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has proposed destroying at least 1000 tons of the confiscated Syrian chemical weapon stockpile out at sea, which some fear will destroy delicate ecosystems vital to sea and human life alike. The OPCW claims the plan is 'technically feasible' and is apparently willing to risk ecological disaster to destroy the toxic contents of the weaponry in or above the sea. Members of the press were told, 'the group is considering whether to destroy the chemical weapons in the ocean, either on a ship or by loading them onto an offshore rig.'"
Iran has some nasty toxic natural gas wells. (Score:3, Interesting)
Iran has some nasty toxic natural gas wells.
They are not alone but pyrolysis using these H2S rich poison gas feeds
could just burn the stuff up.
A strong draft up a tall stack maintained by a natural gas burner could
keep any dis-assembly location in a negative pressure condition and
burn up almost any toxic gas. Many toxic gas weapons have a minimum
bursting charge and may simply be detonated on a sand pit in a largish
coffin , think reactor containment vessel.
Sulfuric acid recovered could be used to detoxify the pit. Fuse up the
weapon.... roll it down a ramp.... a min later thump and the fumes are
pulled up the stack.
Sure stuff could go wrong but the risks seem to be the lesser of evils.
Yes time is an issue, building something like this might take a lot of time
say 3-5 years but there is no EPA in Syria so perhaps 14 months.
Re:Specific chemicals please? (Score:4, Interesting)
Of course, if you'd actually read the article, you'd see that they do in fact propose to burn it.
They simply plan to burn it 'at sea' instead of 'on land'.