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The chemical cops
The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Here's a look at how the organisation works.
OPCW
The Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was thrust into the spotlight in recent weeks when it was required to oversee the destruction of chemical weapons in Syria.
Since the 1990s, the OPCW has been implementing the Chemical Weapons Convention, the first international treaty to outlaw an entire class of weapons.
CONVENTION
The convention prohibits the devlopment, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, transfer or use of chemical weapons.
It came into force in 1997 and has been ratified by 189 states. Of those, seven - Albania, India, Iraq, Libya, Russia, the US and a country identified by the OPCW as "a State Party" but widely believed to be South Korea - have declared stock-piles of chemical weapons. These include mustard gas and nerve agents like sarin and VX.
INSPECTION
The OPCW has conducted more than 5,000 inspections in 86 countries. All the declared stockpiles of chemical weapons have been inventoried and vertified.
FUNDING
Funded by its member states, the OPCW has a budget of about 74 million euros and employs about 500 people. Its director-general is Turkish diplomat Ahmet Uzumcu.
Weapon destruction process
Rocket with chemical warhead, Fuse, Chemical agent container, Rocket motor
Explosive charge
1. Rocket with chemical warhead is loaded into a steel cradle, and an explosive charge is attached to it.
Steel cradle
2. The cradle with the rocket is loaded into a steel drum to prepare the rocket for detonation.
Door sealed
3. The rocket is detonated to release its toxic contents. Chemicals are added and the drum is rotated to mix and neutralise the contents.
Layout of mobile destruction unit on site
Staff decontamination zone
Stainless steel containment vessel
Flatbed trailer
Environmental enclosure
Another way to disarm chemical weapons
Using incineration or hot-detonation technology. The weapon and its chemical contents are destroyed by heating them to the temperature required to break down the chemicals.
BY THE NUMBERS: 57,740 tonnes, or 81.1 per cent, of the world's declared stockpile of chemical agents have been verifiably destroyed.
The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Here's a look at how the organisation works.
OPCW
The Hague-based Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was thrust into the spotlight in recent weeks when it was required to oversee the destruction of chemical weapons in Syria.
Since the 1990s, the OPCW has been implementing the Chemical Weapons Convention, the first international treaty to outlaw an entire class of weapons.
CONVENTION
The convention prohibits the devlopment, production, acquisition, stockpiling, retention, transfer or use of chemical weapons.
It came into force in 1997 and has been ratified by 189 states. Of those, seven - Albania, India, Iraq, Libya, Russia, the US and a country identified by the OPCW as "a State Party" but widely believed to be South Korea - have declared stock-piles of chemical weapons. These include mustard gas and nerve agents like sarin and VX.
INSPECTION
The OPCW has conducted more than 5,000 inspections in 86 countries. All the declared stockpiles of chemical weapons have been inventoried and vertified.
FUNDING
Funded by its member states, the OPCW has a budget of about 74 million euros and employs about 500 people. Its director-general is Turkish diplomat Ahmet Uzumcu.
Weapon destruction process
Rocket with chemical warhead, Fuse, Chemical agent container, Rocket motor
Explosive charge
1. Rocket with chemical warhead is loaded into a steel cradle, and an explosive charge is attached to it.
Steel cradle
2. The cradle with the rocket is loaded into a steel drum to prepare the rocket for detonation.
Door sealed
3. The rocket is detonated to release its toxic contents. Chemicals are added and the drum is rotated to mix and neutralise the contents.
Layout of mobile destruction unit on site
Staff decontamination zone
Stainless steel containment vessel
Flatbed trailer
Environmental enclosure
Another way to disarm chemical weapons
Using incineration or hot-detonation technology. The weapon and its chemical contents are destroyed by heating them to the temperature required to break down the chemicals.
BY THE NUMBERS: 57,740 tonnes, or 81.1 per cent, of the world's declared stockpile of chemical agents have been verifiably destroyed.
