SHCHUCHYE, Russia, May 30 (UPI) -- A plant described as the largest in the world opened Friday in Siberia to destroy Russian artillery shells containing nerve agents.
The 250-acre Chemical Weapons Destruction Facility in Shchuchye, near the Russian border with Kazakhstan, was built with $1 billion from the United States, The Washington Post reported Friday. Officials from both countries attended the opening ceremony.
A U.S. inspection team stumbled on about 2 million shells filled with deadly nerve agents like sarin and VX in a group of warehouses in 1994. Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., who was present Friday in Siberia, was photographed in 1999 carrying a briefcase that held a VX-filled shell to dramatize how easily a weapon capable of killing thousands of people could be removed.
"In Washington, that photo became an important symbol of the challenge we faced," Lugar said Friday. "Today, we must ensure that the weapons are never used and never fall into the hands of those who would do harm to us or others."
