Conversion of Russian chemical weapons production facilities: Conflicts with the CWC

Ouagrham, Sonia Ben

doi:10.1080/10736700008436809

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…They perhaps had more familiarity with competitive processes for the allocation of resources, since they often had to convince authorities to support their particular designs or innovations (Almquist, 1990). Many of them had long been cut off from civilian-oriented research, and their institutes faced daunting challenges in undertaking 'conversion' to civilian activities that was imposed by external authorities and circumstances (Kuzik, 1999;Ben Ouagrham, 2000;Rassadin, 2002).We do not focus on the particular situation of scientists in the military-industrial complex because, as we discuss further below, our survey sample did not include them.…”

Section: Institutional Transformationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scientists in a Changed Institutional Environment

Gerber

Ball

2009

Soc Stud Sci

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How do scientists react when the institutional setting in which they conduct their work changes radically? How do long-standing norms regarding the social responsibility of scientists fare? What factors influence whether scientists embrace or reject the new institutions and norms? We examine these questions using data from a unique survey of 602 scientists in Russia, whose research institutions experienced a sustained crisis and sweeping changes following the collapse of the Soviet Union. We develop measures of how respondents view financing based on grants and other institutional changes in the Russian science system, as well as measures of two norms regarding scientists' social responsibility. We find that the majority of scientists have adapted, in the sense that they hold positive views of the new institutions, but a diversity of orientations remains. Social responsibility norms are common but far from universal among Russian scientists. The main correlates of adaptation are age and current success at negotiating the new institutions, though prospective success, work context, and ethnicity have some of the hypothesized associations. As for social responsibility norms, the main source of variation is age: younger scientists are more likely to embrace individualistic rather than socially oriented norms.

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Section: Institutional Transformationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scientists in a Changed Institutional Environment

Gerber

Ball

2009

Soc Stud Sci

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“…The disavowal of chemical weapons by the countries of the former Soviet Union has had an ironic effect: many of the workers who once produced chemical agents are now underemployed and available for hire [9]. Such individuals could find employment in the development of agent production in the socalled rogue nations.…”

Section: Dispersal Of Chemical Weapons Production Skillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Trends in processing and manufacturing that will affect implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention

Parshall

2002

Pure and Applied Chemistry

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Several new developments in synthesis science and manufacturing technology may affect the task of implementing the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) constraints on the production of toxic agents for military or terrorist purposes. The combination of automated synthesis methods and high-throughput screening protocols could potentially yield new toxic agents not specifically proscribed by the CWC, but such approaches are unlikely to seriously impact the work of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in the near future. On the other hand, new developments in manufacturing may have a serious impact on the work of the OPCW inspectors. The wide use of versatile, multipurpose production facilities in making fine chemicals complicates the task of discerning whether a particular facility is used only for nonprohibited purposes under the CWC. New catalytic processes and automated process control permit production of toxic chemicals with fewer emissions that contaminate the environment and might provide clues to the nature of the processes being conducted. Tiny microreactors operated continuously under computer control can produce significant quantities of toxic chemicals (including CWC-scheduled compounds) with a very small "footprint" within a larger production facility. These technical developments together with the dispersal of chemical production facilities and skills may seriously complicate the tasks of the OPCW inspectors.

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Conversion of Russian chemical weapons production facilities: Conflicts with the CWC

Cited by 2 publications

References 3 publications

Scientists in a Changed Institutional Environment

Scientists in a Changed Institutional Environment

Trends in processing and manufacturing that will affect implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention

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