Japan to Build Mobile CW Disposal Facility for China

Japan plans to build a mobile facility to speed the pace of disposal of chemical weapons its army abandoned in China at the end of World War II, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported today (see GSN, Dec. 21, 2006).

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are expected to approve the plan during a meeting this week.

Roughly 38,000 of an estimated 400,000 Japanese chemical munitions have been recovered to date in China.  Disposal operations have yet to begin.

The two countries originally planned only to build a fixed facility in Haerbaling in the Jilin province, which contains the majority of the decades-old chemical weapons.  There were no plans for eliminating weapons found in other regions of the country, and officials worried that weapons might detonate or leak during long-distance relocation.

The new plan calls for a $787.8 million Japanese-built mobile facility to be based in Haerbaling and to be moved to other locations as needed for weapons disposal, Asahi reported

Weapons would be disabled where they are found.  Explosive components and other sensitive parts would be removed and shipped to a standing site in Haerbaling (Asahi Shimbun, April 9).

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