Sarin Nerve Agent to be burned in populated area

This is extremely nasty stuff.... we have had some training on it, and it is just flat out scary.... imagine what would happen if there was a containment breach...

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (AP) -- The Army said Thursday it will destroy about 800 gallons of sarin nerve agent in the first bulk burn of the lethal chemical at the Army's newest weapons incinerator.

Workers will begin pumping the agent Sunday from a double-walled, glass-lined holding tank into a 2,700-degree furnace at Anniston Army Depot, about 50 miles east of Birmingham.

The chemical, also known as GB, was drained from nearly 600 M55 rockets that have been chopped up and burned since the incinerator began operating on August 8. A single drop of sarin can kill a person.

www.cnn.com...

I think id be taking a quick week or two off and go on a out of town vacation while they do that.... Just incase

They would not release the date to the public of exactly when it was scheduled until it was over. This is for security reasons to keep someone from trying to raid the facility for the material.

Leave now... Come back... whenever... Who wants to goto hawaii!

Its nice to see that the goverment is choosing to rid the country of such deadly chemicals. I wish they would have done this a long time ago.
As long as the process is safe then great.
But what if there is a big cloud of residue from this plant.
I guess that means that people need to read up on what action to take if they start heaving up yellow stuff
drooling,unrination,getting diarrhea, and having violent convulsions.

God I love America!

Mark

This reminds me of Good Idea, Bad Idea.... Good idea, Ridding the world of chemical weapons, Bad Idea, Burnin them off in a city...

I thought that becasue its a bacteria (I think), that it will die anyway when it hits a certain temp?

Im no scientist, just throwin it out there.

Sarin is a neuro toxin, a chemical, that shuts down your central nervous system. It does chemically break down at high temperature to less toxic compounds, but it requires very high temperatures for breakdown. It is a very dangerous situation, as it vaporizes and increases in pressure as temperature increases, and is very corrosive to begin with. Any possible leaks in the system before it reaches the temperature at which is begins to breakdown would cause a release with massive loss of life.

Thanks. I didnt think I was quite right there.

Isnt this the stuff that was relased in a subway a few years ago and killed a good bunch of people?

I believe so, by that cult in Japan.

Luckily if you do get a dose of sarin, and stay consius for the first 5 minutes then you have a survial rate of 99.99 percent, I cant remember where i read this but ill go find a link.

Some information on Sarin Nerve Gas:

Sarin, a colorless and odorless gas, has a lethal dose of 0.5 milligram for an adult. It is 26 times more deadly than cyanide gas and is 20 times more lethal than potassium cyanide. Just 0.01 milligram per kilogram of body weight a pinprick sized droplet will kill a human. The vapor is slightly heavier than air, so it hovers close to the ground. Under wet and humid weather conditions sarin degrades swiftly, but as the temperature rises up to a certain point, sarin’s lethal duration increases, despite the humidity.

www.geocities.com...

On the day of the disaster, 641 victims were seen at St. Luke's International Hospital. Among those, five victims arrived with cardiopulmonary or respiratory arrest with marked miosis and extremely low serum cholinesterase values; two died and three recovered completely. In addition to these five critical patients, 106 patients, including four pregnant women, were hospitalized with symptoms of mild to moderate exposure. Other victims had only mild symptoms and were released after 6 hours of observation. Major signs and symptoms in victims were miosis, headache, dyspnea, nausea, ocular pain, blurred vision, vomiting, coughing, muscle weakness, and agitation. Almost all patients showed miosis and related symptoms such as headache,blurred vision, or visual darkness.