Originally published on December 2, 2013
The Obama administration is proposing to destroy Syria's chemical weapons aboard a U.S. ship in international waters.
The neutralization process, known as hydrolysis, would be carried out aboard the 700-foot U.S.-owned MV Cape Ray in the Mediterranean Sea with U.S. navy warships patrolling nearby.
This proposal will first need to be approved by Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, a multinational chemical weapons watchdog agency, before the disposal can proceed. According to the OPCW, this operation would produce 7.7 million liters of effluent to be packed into 4,000 containers.
The OPCW has set a December 31 deadline for the removal chemical waste from Syria, but many countries have been reluctant to take on the task.
According to the Star Tribune, Jonathan Lalley, a spokesperson for the president's National Security Council, said that no final decisions have been made regarding the disposal of chemicals outside Syria.
"We and our international partners are pursuing alternative means of destruction, and we will continue discussing with other countries how they might best contribute to that effort," Lalley said in a statement.
The neutralization method, formally known as the Field Deployable Hydrolysis System was developed at the U.S. Army's Edgewood Chemical and Biological Center in Maryland.
In this process, the toxic agent is mixed with water and caustic material, before heating the mixture, to destroy its chemical toxicity. Hydrolysis can destroy 99.9% of the toxic agent.
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