First train that will transport toxic substance from Ukraine for safe disposal prepared for departure as part of OSCE-supported project

KALYNIVKA, Ukraine, 18 November 2009 - A special train carrying more than 500 tonnes of a highly toxic and volatile rocket fuel component was assembled today ahead of its departure from the south-western Ukrainian town of Kalynivka for a journey to Russia, where it will be safely disposed of in an OSCE-supported project. 

The train, to depart in coming days, will be the first to leave under a major OSCE-Ukraine project, the first phase of which will eliminate 3,168 tonnes of the dangerous substance known as melange. The fuel component was widely used in the armies of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact to propel short- and medium-range rockets.

Later stages of the project are envisioned to dispose of Ukraine's entire stock of melange, which comprises some 16,000 tonnes. The project, implemented by the OSCE Secretariat, is set to become the OSCE's largest donor-financed project so far.

"The removal and disposal of the melange stored in Ukraine helps eliminate a serious threat to the hundreds of thousands of people living near storage sites, and to the environment," said Ambassador Lubomir Kopaj, the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine. "The removal comes at an appropriate time - the aging containers that hold the melange are in very poor shape and are deteriorating day by day."

Oleksandr Dombrovskyy, Governor for the Vinnytsya region that includes Kalynivka told a news conference at the storage site that Ukraine lacked resources to be able to cope with the problem by itself and hence welcomed the OSCE's support.

A single major leak or accident involving melange can have a severe impact on biological life within a two-kilometre 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 initial phase of the project will use six train transports to clear two storage sites in western Ukraine in a one-year process. The first site is located near Kalynivka, a town of 20,000 residents just 23 kilometres north of the regional capital Vinnytsya, which has a population of 365,600 residents. The other is located just one kilometre from the village of Tsenzhiv and a few kilometres from the regional capital of the Ivano-Frankivsk region.

Special railway tanks will transport the melange to specialized chemical plants in the Russian Federation, where the hazardous substance will be recycled into chemical products for civilian use, such as paint components. All steps will be monitored by OSCE observers.

The Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway, Spain, Poland, the Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency and Ukraine itself are financing the first phase of the project, with fund-raising under way among OSCE participating States for later stages.