OSCE starts clean-up of toxic rocket fuel component from third military base in Ukraine

RADEKHIV, Ukraine, 19 November - Specialists filled railway tanks with a toxic rocket fuel component that had been stored in deteriorating containers at a military base in Western Ukraine today in preparation for shipping the substance out of Ukraine as part of an OSCE-Ukraine project.

A train carrying 250 tonnes of the dangerous substance, known as melange, will depart in coming days from the military base near Radekhiv for a journey to Russia, where it will be safely disposed of in specialized chemical plants.

The Radekhiv site is one of six that held mélange that was left in Ukraine following the Cold War period and the third to be cleaned up in an OSCE project. Melange was widely used in the armies of the former Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact to propel short- and medium-range rockets.

The work to remove melange from the military depot near Radekhiv marks the beginning of the second phase of an OSCE-Ukraine project that envisions the disposal of all the melange that was held in the western part of the country. Before the project started, Ukraine had 16,000 tonnes.

So far, more than 3,000 tonnes of melange have been removed from military storages near Kalynivka, Vinnytsya region, and in Tsenzhiv, Ivano-Frankivsk region. Work to remove the 2,600 tonnes stored near Radekhiv is expected to conclude early next year.

"Once all melange has been removed from Radekhiv, western Ukraine will be free of the threat posed by this toxic substance. People living there will enjoy a safer environment," said Mathew Geertsen, who manages the project.

The chemical plants in the Russian Federation will dispose of the substance in a process that produces as end products chemical products for civilian use, such as paint components. All steps will be monitored by OSCE experts.

A single major leak or accident involving mélange can have a severe impact on biological life within a two-kilometer radius, and create a contaminated, high-risk zone within a 25-kilometre radius. If the substance comes into contact with anything organic, it causes spontaneous combustion.

The project, implemented by the OSCE Secretariat, is set to become the OSCE's largest donor-financed project so far. This second phase of the project is implemented with financial support from the Czech Republic, Denmark, Hungary, Norway, the Swedish International Development and Cooperation Agency and the United States.