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Production
and Use of Chemical Weapons
The
technical obstacles facing would-be chemical terrorists in producing
and employing CW agents in an attack are far from trivial. Although simple CW agents can be produced quite easily, the weaponization and delivery
of such agents present greater technical difficulties.
Production
U.S. chemical plant
CW agents can be manufactured using
40-year-old production technologies and synthetic methods that have been
published in the open (publicly available) scientific literature. CW
agents are made from intermediate chemicals known as precursors, some of
which have peaceful industrial applications.
World War I-era CW agents, such as
chlorine,
phosgene,
hydrogen cyanide,
and
sulfur mustard, are
relatively easy to manufacture. At least nine methods for the synthesis
of sulfur mustard have been published. In contrast, the production of
nerve agents such as
sarin and
VX involves the use of high
temperatures and corrosive and dangerous chemicals, requiring expertise
in synthetic organic chemistry. Furthermore, ordering significant
quantities of key precursor chemicals from commercial suppliers might
arouse suspicion and lead the contacted firms to notify law enforcement.
In some historical cases, an
individual trained in chemistry produced mustard gas and other powerful
poisons in a clandestine laboratory. For example, Valery Borzov, a
40-year-old Russian chemist, was arrested in Moscow on August 6, 1998
after attempting to sell a sample of nitrogen mustard to an undercover
police officer. Borzov, who had been fired from a scientific research
position in 1997, set up a chemical laboratory in his apartment and
synthesized toxic chemicals for sale to the Russian mafia and other
criminal buyers, charging his customers $1,500 per vial (small glass
tube). A police search of his apartment uncovered chemical equipment, 50
liters of "strong poisons," 400 milliliters of mustard agent, and a
thick notebook containing recipes. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, Borzov
was found mentally incompetent to stand trial and was committed to a
treatment facility.
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