OSCE completes removal of toxic rocket fuel component from Western and Central Ukraine

BILA TSERKVA, Ukraine, 16 November 2011 - The final shipment of a toxic rocket fuel component stored in deteriorating containers at a military base in Central Ukraine was loaded on to railways tanks today as part of an OSCE-supported project.

A train carrying 452 tonnes of the dangerous substance, known as mélange, will depart in the coming days from the military base near Bila Tserkva for Russia, for its safe disposal in specialized chemical plants.

The Bila Tserkva site is one of six mélange stockpiles left in Ukraine following the Cold War and the fourth to be cleaned up under the OSCE project. Mélange was widely used in the armies of the former Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact to propel short- and medium-range rockets.

The removal of the remaining stockpiles of mélange from the military depot near Bila Tserkva marks the completion of the elimination of the substance from Western and Central Ukraine. Before the project started, Ukraine had 16,000 tones of mélange.
To date 6,922 tonnes of mélange have been removed from the military storages near Kalynivka, Vinnytsya region, Tsenzhiv, Ivano-Frankivsk region, Radekhiv, Lviv region and Bila Tserkva, Kyiv region.

"Once all the mélange has been removed from Bila Tserkva, Central Ukraine will be free of the threat posed by this toxic substance. People living there will enjoy a safer environment," said Anton Martynyuk, OSCE Deputy Project Manager.

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 major leak or accident involving mélange would have a severe impact on biological life within a two-kilometre radius, and create a contaminated, high-risk zone within a 25-kilometre radius. The substance spontaneously combusts on contact with organic matter.

The project, implemented by the OSCE Secretariat, is set to become the OSCE largest donor-financed project so far. Financial support for the mélange disposal project was provided by the following OSCE participating States: the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden (Swedish International Development and Co-operation Agency) and the United States of America.