The Department of Defense is planning to help eradicate Syria's chemical weapons with some chemicals of its own.
Later this December, department officials plan to test a portable hydrolysis system that uses "heat, water and bleach-like chemicals" to transform the weapons into a lower grade of hazardous waste that is more manageable, according to a news release on the department's website. The tests will be conducted on Cape Ray, a U.S. Merchant Marine ship, marking the first time such a test would be performed at sea.
See also: Disturbing Videos Show Effects of Syria's Alleged Chemical Attack
The U.S. aims to destroy Syrian mustard gas, a blistering agent, as well as sarin and VX, both of which attack the human nervous system. The chemicals are expected to be delivered in bulk liquid form by the Syrian government. After they're degraded, they'll be moved to an unknown location.
“We analyzed various technologies, including incineration, and decided to use a proven technology that we had a lot of experience with," an anonymous department official said, according to the report. "We had to deal with bulk liquid chemicals of this nature in Newport, Ind., and in Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., in the 2000s."
Cape Ray should be outfitted with the two hydrolysis machines in a matter of weeks, according to Reuters, and will be manned by around 100 people. Once the chemicals are onboard, they should take anywhere from 45 days to three months to destroy.
But that's if the chemicals ever get to the ship. Reutersreported that the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has yet to formally approve the plan, and they are also waiting for an unnamed country to allow for the use of one of its ports, from which the chemicals may be loaded onto the Cape Ray.
Even if the plan is permitted, the vehicles carrying deadly chemicals must make it through a war-torn country unscathed.
“[The Syrian government has] recognized that they bear a lot of responsibility for getting the materials safely delivered,” the department official said. “It's a challenging environment and they’re working through that and taking security into consideration every day."
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