Client
Contracting Office:
US Army Engineering
& Support Center—
Huntsville, Alabama

Program
Estimate Cost:
$888 million

Program Duration:
1996-2008 (estimated)

Parsons Services:
Perform test program to develop demilitarization machines and agent destruction process; design the demilitarization
facility; procure equipment and materials; construct plant; assist with training, startup, and first year of operation

Though the Cold War ended over a decade ago, the threat of chemical weapons remains. Natural disasters, theft, or disintegration could prove disastrous to Russia, the United States and the rest of the world. In June 1991, Congress passed the Nunn-Lugar Act to reduce the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction, weapons that still exist in the states of the former Soviet Union. As a result, the U.S. Department of Defense initiated the Cooperative Threat Reduction program to help Russia safely store and ultimately eliminate its chemical weapons stockpile, which includes artillery, rocket, and missile warheads filled with deadly nerve agent. The Chemical Weapons Destruction Program is accomplishing this goal in a safe, secure, timely, and environmentally sound manner.

Overall View of Test Facility

The total Russian stockpile consists of approximately 40,000 metric tons of chemical agent, stored at seven sites across the Russian Federation. Sixteen hundred kilometers east of Moscow is Shchuch'ye in Central Russia, a storage location for some of the most advanced, lethal, easily transportable and most pilferable chemical weapons in the world. Shchuch'ye was selected as the ideal site for building Russia's first nerve agent chemical weapons destruction complex, capable of destroying nearly 30% of Russia's total stockpile. It will be the first large-scale chemical weapons destruction facility in Russia to employ chemical neutralization. The process consists of two steps to neutralize the chemical agent which will then be converted into a bitumen salt mass (BSM). A Russian reagent will be used to detoxify the chemical agent.

Parsons was selected as the engineering management support contractor for the Russian Chemical Weapons Destruction Complex in November of 1996. Parsons' scope of work includes project management, a scale-up program to develop and test demilitarization machines and the agent destruction process, detail design, procurement, construction management, systemization, training, startup and demonstration for the first year of operation.

Preparation of the sand bedding for the pipe installation.

Parsons will also implement a security enhancement system at the Planovy and Kizner stockpiles. This task is extremely important in light of the September 11th events and will ensure safe chemical weapons stockpile storage.

Parsons has subcontracted with Russian institutes and firms to develop the chemical agent destruction process (ADP), the munitions destruction process lines (DPLs), the complex design, and documentation to obtain a construction permit. Contract options are available to support equipment acquisition/installation, facility construction, systems integration, training, and start up.

Public outreach is critical to this program. There are three active public outreach offices near the site to provide information to the public, hold public information meetings, and answer questions.

The program maintains project and procurement offices in Moscow and Volgograd. A field office is under construction in Shchuch'ye. The project also has an office in Pasadena, California, providing program management support.

Excavating 1st cut of pipe trench

The work is executed in two languages with Russian Federation subcontractors and agencies. Parsons is utilizing bilingual staff where possible. Since all deliverables must be submitted in both Russian and English, translators are heavily relied on in both Russia and the U.S. The time differential of 11 hours between offices adds to the coordination challenge.

The program is currently in detail design. Test facilities have been completed and test runs are planned for this year. Preconstruction activities at the site are in progress.

The most valid measure of customer satisfaction on a cost plus award fee contract is the fee awarded by the client. Parsons has consistently received outstanding award fee evaluations from the Corps of Engineers.

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