COMPLETE COVERAGE | FRONT LINES | AMERICA AT HOME | INTERACTIVES »

Removing Russia's chemical stockpile

Soviet missile filled with a chemical nerve agent

By CNN Moscow Bureau Chief Jill Dougherty

MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- During the Cold War, the Soviet Union built the largest stockpile of chemical weapons in the world. Now Russian scientists are working to destroy them -- and keep them from terrorists' hands.

Russia and the United States signed a treaty to destroy their enormous stores of highly dangerous chemical weapons. But Russia still has 40,000 tons of them, including nerve agents like Sarin and VX -- less than a drop of which can be deadly.

Russia's stockpile is stored at seven remote sites across the country, packed into shells and warheads. Some experts say the weapons are vulnerable to terrorists.

At the Moscow lab where weapons destruction is analysed, scientists know only too well what chemical weapons can do in the hands of terrorists.

CNN.COM SPECIAL REPORT  CNN NewsPass Video  Agencies reportedly got hijack tips in 1998  MORE STORIES Intelligence intercept led to Buffalo suspects Report cites warnings before 9/11  EXTRA INFORMATION Timeline: Who Knew What and When? Interactive: Terror Investigation Terror Warnings System Most wanted terrorists What looks suspicious? In-Depth: America Remembers In-Depth: Terror on Tape In-Depth: How prepared is your city?  RESOURCES On the Scene: Barbara Starr: Al Qaeda hunt expands? On the Scene: Peter Bergen: Getting al Qaeda to talk

"You don't need a very big lab to produce small amounts of chemical materials," says Viktor Petrunin, director of the State Research Institute of Organic Chemistry and Technology.

"You do need very qualified people with a lot of technical knowledge because you can contaminate yourself. That's why we're very strict. If you start revealing details of our work, terrorists will be only too happy to take advantage of it."

In fact, the most valuable part of the institute is the knowledge of its scientists. That too could be vulnerable to terrorists, who can offer low-paid workers much more money.

But the institute says none of its scientists have been lured away. Paying scientists well is one of the primary weapons in the fight against terrorism, Petrunin says.

Petrunin believes Russia's chemical weapons are securely stored, but he does worry about accidents involving chemical weapons.

"When you store them indefinitely, they can break down. Eventually there could be a massive breakdown. It would be an ecological catastrophe," he says. "So they have to be destroyed as soon as possible."

Because of the danger involved, scientists at the lab do not work with the actual weapons, only with small amounts of chemicals. Their task is to verify that the chemical weapons have been destroyed, and that no traces are left in the soil or the environment. The actual destruction takes place at the storage sites.

They use the latest analytical devices, thanks to $20 million from the U.S. government.

Completely destroying all of Russia's chemical weapons is expected to take more than a decade, with 2012 set as the target date.