Goals of OPCW
The organisation is responsible for implementation of international legislation that regulates elimination of global stocks of chemical weapons. In order to ensure international security, its members constantly verify chemical production in various countries. Thanks to that it is clear that industrial production is not a cover for the production of chemical weapons.
– The Convention is the first in the history international law treaty in the field of disarmament equipped in a set of instruments for verification of treaty obligations. It contains an obligation to stop using dangerous properties of chemical substances on the battlefield and assumes complete elimination of one of the three categories of weapons of mass destruction - chemical weapons – specifies mgr inż. Górniak.
Elimination of chemical weapons
OPCW takes care of international security in several ways. First, it constantly supervises destruction of chemical weapons. Of course destruction of the arsenal itself is often insufficient, thus, it is also necessary to check if chemical weapons production plants have been transformed into ones that serve the public.
Supervision of the OPCW focuses also on continuous verification of companies that produce chemical substances by synthesis (especially those substances that are on the lists of Chemical Weapons Convention). That is why members of the organisation regularly conduct inspections all over the world. Above all, their activity is focused on supporting peaceful use of chemistry, which can benefit society as a whole, especially in the developing countries.
Effectiveness of the above mentioned activities results from the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention. It provides for a two-stage implementation process which consists of a declaration of a country on destruction of hazardous resources and its verification.
What is the procedure for destroying this kind of arsenal then?
– Ammunition is physically destroyed, which deprives it of its functional properties. In the case of an active substance – a chemical weapon agent – the process of its destruction is verified in accordance with previously approved technology and in a designated and verified destruction installation. The process of destruction of the most significant component of the weapon – a chemical weapon agent – is performed in monitored rooms with controlled by inspectors access. The process of destruction itself may be carried out by incineration, but the Convention prohibits combustion in open hearth furnaces, or chemical neutralization. At the end composition and amount of the obtained product is checked by sampling and analysis. Then a balance sheet is drawn up. And so, e.g. the shell of a bomb, devoid of its contents, is usually burnt or crushed, and the explosive that was contained in it is burnt - explains mgr inż. Górniak.
International involvement
Mgr inż. Lesław Górniak as an inspector worked in the headquarters of OPCW in Hague and participated in missions in about 50 countries.
During international visits he was responsible for both, verification of the weapon destruction process as well as destruction of installations used for its production.
He also conducted inspections in chemical industry plants producing chemical compounds in various countries all over the world. The objective was to verify if the production is in compliance with declarations.
The researcher from Lodz, thanks to the carried out controls, has confirmed the fact of chemical weapons destruction or destruction of installations used for its production in such countries as: USA, Russia, Japan, Libya, India. As some of the countries belonging to OPCW do not want to be associated with chemical weapons production, we cannot list all the countries that were subjected to control. It is worth mentioning though that mgr inż. Górniak was carrying out inspections in the countries all over the world – in Europe, Africa, the U.S and Asia – everywhere where chemical industry plants exist.
On the track of Japanese sect
Mgr inż. Lesław Górniak emphasizes that responsibility for destruction of chemical weapons or installation is always on the side of the country that belongs to OPCW. Therefore, the scientist supervised destruction of chemical weapons or installation for its production, which was owned by the state.
Inspection carried out in Japan was an exception during which Lesław Górniak took part in destruction of sarin that was previously used by a religious sect when carrying out the famous terrorist attack in the Tokyo metro.
– Sarin is a highly toxic organophosphorus chemical compound belonging to the fluorophosphonates group, which is used as a poisonous combat agent from the group of paralytic and convulsive agents - explains the expert from Lodz.
The attack took place on the 20th of March 1995 and it was carried out by Aum Shinrikyō - a Japanese religious sect founded by Shōkō Asahara.
During morning rush hour, just after 7 a.m., members of the sect sprayed sarin on the trains of three subway lines in Tokyo. As a result 12 people were killed, and more than 5000 people were injured. Many passengers took part in saving the injured ones. Only among health care personnel there were 135 of the injured due to the lack of protective equipment and not knowing the methods of combating sarin. Even after many years many people still suffer from ailments related to sarin effect (among others: depression, breathing difficulties or brain damage) - says Mgr inż. Lesław Górniak.
The terrorists that took part in the attack were sentenced to death or life imprisonment. Death sentence on the founder of the sect and its members was executed only in 2018.
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Mgr inż. Lesław Górniak is currently working as a scientist at the University of Lodz and as an expert in the Military Institute of Chemistry and Radiometry in Rembertów. He has a function of the Chief Expert for Hazardous Waste Management as part of DG DEVCO 65 project coordinated by the European Commission
University of Lodz is one of the biggest universities in Poland. Its mission is to educate top-class scientists and specialists in numerous fields of humanities, social sciences, natural and exact sciences as well as health sciences. UniLodz cooperates with business, both at the staff level by providing qualified employees as well as at the scientific level, by offering its know-how to enterprises from various areas of economy. University of Lodz is an academic institution open to the world – the number of its international students is constantly growing, while its Polish students, thanks to Exchange programmes, get to know Europe, Asia and travel overseas. The University is a part of Lodz, it operates for and with the community of Lodz by getting involved in many socio-cultural projects.
Edit: Promotion Centre, UL