Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear
Countering CBRN at Home and Abroad
Jake Watling
The use of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) weapons is widely considered to be a serious breach of international 
norms, and constitutes a violation of international law for those states who have signed treaties prohibiting their use. Nevertheless, chemical weapons have been employed repeatedly by the Assad regime in Syria, while the Russian military conducted a chemical weapons attack on British soil in 2018, killing a civilian in Salisbury. Meanwhile, the coronavirus pandemic, though natural in origin, has demonstrated the widespread damage that biological weapons could cause. RUSI – in partnership with the Institution of Royal Engineers and Royal Engineers Historical Society (REHS) held a virtual conference on 23 September 2020 to understand CBRN threats in the contemporary operating environment, and what must be done to address them.
Read the full article in the Institution of Royal Engineers journal December 2020.
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Combatting the effects of CBRN materials on the environment |
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extracts taken from ‘Using engineering techniques to confirm the environmental impacts of Chemical Warfare Agents’ – LCpl S J O Wood EngTech MinstRE – RE Journal Dec 2020. From the use of arsenic smoke by the Chinese military in 1000 bc to the first mass chemical attack in April 22 1915, the use and complexity of Chemical Warfare Agents (CWA) as a tool of warfare has been on the rise. As the availability increases so does the threat and the potency of these agents. With the exposure of CWA agents whether through attack or the result of a catastrophic incident the consequences are not limited to a contaminated population and surrounding infrastructure. Evidence suggests there could also be long term environmental effects, which could have a direct impact on the ability to complete construction tasks and the day to life of the local population in the area exposed to CBRN agents. |
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…it is vital that, as combat engineers and C-CBRN specialists, we understand how these agents react in our environment and how that impacts our role as engineers. Due to the low volatility of the agent, there is the potential for the blistering properties of the agent to contaminate both the soil and ground water in the targeted area for extended periods of time. In 2015, in the area of Münster in Germany, a small town used for chemical weapon testing in the First World War, traces of Sulphur Mustard degradation by products were detected in the drinking water, thus demonstrating the far-reaching environmental effects of chemical weapons. |
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…militaries relied heavily on earth filled HESCO structures to create Forward Operating Bases;… …any force attempting to conduct earthworks to fill HESCO could inadvertently expose themselves to the harmful agent and fill the HESCO with contaminated soil. |
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On the 1st March 2019 the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) announced that the final site of decontamination in Salisbury was declared safe, this was over 11 months after the initial attack on the 4th March 2018. Evidence suggests that construction that takes place on affected sites has the potential for recontamination and exposure to the harmful agents, with reported cases of construction workers being hospitalized after digging up dormant blister agents.
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This demonstrates a significant risk to a battlegroup moving into an area that has been exposed to a chemical attack, as the surface contamination may have dissipated but the agent may have permeated into the soil precisely where soldiers intend to dig in. |
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…it is important that we use all the skills at our disposal. C-CBRN Reconnaissance and Exploitation Teams (RET) are trained to detect the use of chemical agents in intricate surface areas by using handheld detection The Fuchs Area Survey and Reconnaissance Vehicle can be used to provide CWA detection over a large area,… |
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How can we solve this? What tech is in place?
