More than 400 tons of toxic rocket fuel removed from Kazakhstan, with OSCE help

SARY OZEK, KAZAKHSTAN, 29 June 2013 - A train carrying 410 tonnes of a toxic rocket fuel component, which had been stored in deteriorating containers, left Kazakhstan today for safe disposal at a specialized chemical plant in Dzerzhinsk, Russia as part of a project supported by the OSCE.

The Organization helps its participating States find a solution to health and environment threats posed by mélange, a highly toxic, volatile, and combustible missile fuel component that was extensively used in the Warsaw Pact countries during the Cold War as a liquid rocket propellant component for short and medium-range missiles.

Speaking at a ceremony on the occasion of this removal held in Sary Ozek, Ambassador Natalia Zarudna, Head of the Centre, said: “We appreciate the co-operation and support of all our partners that helped ensure the safe removal and shipment of mélange from Kazakhstan’s territory. Due to the professionalism, expert guidance and financial support of all parties involved, this extremely dangerous substance no longer poses a threat to the environment and people in this country.”

Removal of mélange in Kazakhstan is part of a broader OSCE effort to remove the toxic component from a number of OSCE States. The collapse of the Soviet Union saw large quantities of mélange become obsolete in the territory of the post-Soviet countries, its allies and partners. All of the project’s individual steps, including the loading, shipment and disposal of the component, are monitored by the OSCE.

The mélange disposal is the largest OSCE donor-financed activity to date, implemented in Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Montenegro and Ukraine. Financial support has been provided by the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden (through the Swedish International Development and Co-operation Agency) and the United States.

The removal project in Kazakhstan, sponsored to 80 per cent by the country itself and Spain, was implemented by the OSCE together with Kazakhstan’s Defence Ministry, as well as the Closed Joint Stock Company Scientific Production Firm “Technoazot” and the Federal State Enterprise “Zavod Imeni Ya.M.Sverdlova”, both from Russia.