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OSCE removes latest batch of toxic rocket fuel component from Ukraine

20 March 2013
The OSCE helps its states find a solution to the health and environment threats posed by Melange, a highly explosive missile fuel component that was used in the former USSR. Its components are extremely reactive, easily evaporating and highly toxic. (OSCE) Photo details

A train carrying 376 tonnes of a toxic rocket fuel component, which had been stored in deteriorating containers at a site in Shevchenkove, left Ukraine on 20 March 2013 for safe disposal as part of a project supported by the OSCE.

The toxic substance, known as mélange, will be safely disposed of at a specialized chemical plant in Russia.

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

Before the project started, Ukraine had 16,000 tonnes of mélange. To date, including today’s shipment, more than 10,000 tonnes have been removed.

All projects steps, including the loading, shipment and disposal of mélange, are monitored by the OSCE.

The mélange disposal project, implemented by the OSCE Secretariat, is the largest OSCE donor-financed project to date. Financial support has been 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 US.