GULBARSHYN BOZHEYEVA Report The Pavlodar Chemical Weapons Plant in Kazakhstan: History and Legacy GULBARSHYN BOZHEYEVA Gulbarshyn Bozheyeva holds a Ph.D. degree in Chemical Physics from the Kazakh State University. From 1996-97, she was a Visiting Scholar and Research Associate at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. She is now completing a master’s degree in International Development Policy at Duke University. he former Soviet Union’s chemical weapons theless, manufacturing lines and equipment for primary (CW) program consisted of many production and intermediate CW precursors and buildings for fill- plants that created the world’s largest stockpile ing CW munitions were constructed at Pavlodar. The T 1 of chemical weapons. Most of the CW production and plant also acquired personnel with expertise in CW pro- storage facilities were located in Russia, but a few fa- duction.5 cilities existed in other Soviet republics. In recent years, This report is devoted to the role of the Pavlodar Western countries have provided significant financial Chemical Plant in the former Soviet CW program and assistance for dismantling former CW facilities in Rus- its current status. The first part of the report describes sia and converting former CW production facilities for the history of the Pavlodar plant and its military and 2 commercial use. Although a fair amount has been writ- civilian infrastructures. The second part deals with the ten about Russian CW facilities, little is known about CW capability of the plant and the nature of the chemi- the CW programs in other former Soviet republics. cal agents that were produced there. The third part fo- One such facility designed for the production of CW cuses on conversion problems facing the Pavlodar plant was built in the city of Pavlodar in northern Kazakh- in the new market environment following the breakup stan.3 The Pavlodar Chemical Plant was a dual-purpose of the Soviet Union. complex in which civilian chemical production served as a cover for military activities. This plant appears to A DUAL-PURPOSE CHEMICAL COMPLEX have been the most recently constructed of the Soviet Construction of the Pavlodar Chemical Plant began CW production centers and may have been designed for in 1965 on the banks of the Irtysh River in northern Ka- the production of new-generation binary nerve agents, zakhstan.6 As was typical of Soviet CW production fa- which were developed by the Soviet Union in the 1980s.4 cilities, the plant was designed to be a dual-purpose Although the Pavlodar plant manufactured precursor production complex, capable of manufacturing both ci- chemicals for CW agents, it never actually produced vilian chemicals and military CW agents. The civilian chemical weapons. The plant was not yet complete when part of the plant served as a cover for the military-re- Moscow halted construction in 1987 because of the So- lated production and supplied the latter part with energy viet Union’s increasing involvement in the negotiation and basic chemicals.7 The first nitrogen and oxygen pro- of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). Never- duction plant at the Pavlodar plant, called the “heart of 136 The Nonproliferation Review/Summer 2000 GULBARSHYN BOZHEYEVA the plant” due to the importance of nitrogen screening Gorbachev, the Pavlodar plant stopped building new CW in dealing with flammable chemicals, began operating production lines and began the dismantlement and con- in 1973. The construction of new buildings and the in- version of the existing infrastructure for the production troduction of new production lines, particularly the of civilian chemicals.13 Were it not for Gorbachev’s or- military ones, continued until 1992. In 1991, the Pavlodar der, construction of the CW plant would have been com- plant was a huge complex occupying a territory of 2,500 pleted three years later.14 hectares and employing some 6,500 people, including The production process at Site Number Two started 500 engineers. In addition to chemical production, the with a plant for manufacturing phosphorus trichloride plant had a farm and an extensive social infrastructure (PC1 ), the basic starting material for the synthesis of 8 3 that served its employees. nerve agents (see Table 1 listing Site Number Two fa- The Pavlodar plant was under the authority of the cilities).15 Yellow phosphorus extracted from deposits Soyuzorgsintez Directorate of the Soviet Ministry of in southern Kazakhstan, together with chlorine produced Chemical Industry, which supervised the production of at Site Number One, were used as initial components all military-related chemicals in the Soviet Union. The for the synthesis of phosphorus trichloride. The chlo- plant consisted of Site Number One, designated for ci- rine was obtained using mercury electrolysis from so- vilian production, and Site Number Two, designated for dium chloride taken from a deposit near Pavlodar. the production and weaponization of CW agents. Site A plant designated for manufacturing intermediate Number Two had a strict security system and was headed CW chemicals was situated next to the PC13 production by a chief engineer who reported directly to the central building. This building was equipped with corrosion- Moscow authorities. The authorities at Pavlodar usually resistant chemical reactors lined with silver or made of did not have military ranks, although military represen- high-nickel steel (Hastalloy). Such equipment is needed tatives would arrive during the launch of CW produc- for the synthesis of nerve agent components, which re- tion lines. quire the use of highly corrosive chemicals such as hy- Sapyrbek Sultanovich Berketov served as the direc- drochloric acid and hydrogen fluoride.16 The nickel alloy, tor of the entire Pavlodar plant were from 1977 to 1986, designated XH65MB, used in the Site Number Two re- and Boris Aleksandrovich Sharov did so from 1986 to actors contained 65 percent nickel, 18 percent molybde- 1997.9 However, in accordance with the separate man- num, 11 percent wolfram, and chromium. Due to the agement security system, these officials may not have high cost of Hastalloy equipment, it is usually not widely had clearance to know in detail about the CW activities available at civilian plants.17 at Site Number Two. The first secretary of the regional The next buildings in line were the main plant for committee of the Communist Party, the highest author- manufacturing the final CW agents and laboratory build- ity in the region, had no control over the Pavlodar plant. ings for testing them on laboratory animals. Construc- However, specialists from Site Number Two had clear- tion of these facilities was never competed. The last ances to visit other CW production facilities in building in line, which was destroyed in 1987, was de- Novocheboksarsk and Volgograd and learn from these signed for operations with supertoxic CW agent prod- 10 plants’ expertise. ucts.18 Located across from and parallel to the main production building was a building for filling chemical MILITARY PRODUCTION AT PAVLODAR munitions; it had four-meter thick walls reinforced with Site Number Two consisted of about five plants des- 16 internal columns to contain accidents with high ex- ignated for the production of CW agents, including ba- plosives.19 The plan was to build special tunnels con- sic chemicals manufacturing, laboratory testing, and necting this building with the final CW agent production filling of agents into military munitions. The site occu- building nearby. pied a territory of 550 hectares, with most of the pro- Other buildings at the site included warehouses for duction buildings located in two parallel rows (see storage of chlorine, support facilities, and an incinerator 11 Figures 1-4). The site was designed to manufacture for the elimination of chemical wastes.20 Several rail- nerve agents, but construction of military lines had not road lines and vehicle roads crossed the site, including been completed when Soviet authorities halted the CW one railroad line departing directly from the munitions program in 1987.12 At the order of Soviet leader Mikhail The Nonproliferation Review/Summer 2000 137 GULBARSHYN BOZHEYEVA Table 1: Production Facilities at Site Number Two Buildings and their CW Buildings’ status after the Status as of June 1999 production purposes 1987 conversion until 1992 Phosphorus trichloride Civilian-use PCl3 Civilian-use PCl3 (PC13) production building production production Intermediate CW precursor Production of civilian-use Production of civilian production building Folitol, Gidrel, and IOMS mineral-salt Acrylates in silver-lined inhibitors in Hastalloy reactors reactors Final CW agent production Not completed Not in use building Laboratory buildings Not completed Sold to a Kazakhstani leather processing company Munitions filling building No military equipment Sold to Kazenergokabel, a installed; used for civilian wire production company chemical production, including PVC pipes Building for operations with Completely destroyed in final CW products 1987 Support infrastructure Motor oil production Sold to Lyubol, a building Kazakhstani-Swiss joint venture Incinerator for the In use In use elimination of chemical wastes filling building. Facilities for supplying heat, electric- nologies were to have been introduced. It began opera- ity, and water, and other support infrastructure serving tions about 15 years after the nerve agent production Site Number Two, were located at Site Number One.21 plant in Novocheboksarsk, Russia.23 Pavlodar was in- tended to substitute for some production lines at In 1987, at Gorbachev’s orders, the building for op- Novocheboksarsk and at the older nerve agent produc- erations with final CW products was razed to the ground. tion plant in Volgograd, which had been constructed af- Also, one smoke stack connected to the underground ter World War II. For example, production of ventilation system next to this building was destroyed. phosphorous trichloride was to be transferred from Other facilities and equipment at Site Number Two were Volgograd to Pavlodar.24 converted for the production of civilian chemicals.