The U.S. State Department Recognizes the Threat Posed by Aging and Poorly Maintained Munitions Storage Sites

Ammunition storage facility \'Taras\' in Montenegro after the reconstruction

On 23 January 2012, the U.S. Department of State published an overview of the dangers of poorly maintained ammunition storage sites and the importance of proper management and facility upgrades. The article entitled “Dangerous Depots”  lists some of the many accidents at storage sites which took place in the period from 1995 to 2011 around the world. The article uses data collected by SEESAC to support some of its arguments.  (See Ammunition Stocks: Promoting Safe and Secure Storage and Disposal)

Throughout the years, SEESAC’s key activities focused on improving the management and security of storage facilities containing stockpiles of weapons and ammunition in South Eastern Europe (SEE). Since 2010, these SEESAC activities are directly supported by the EU through the EU COUNCIL DECISION 2010/179/CFSP.

Several successful projects were finalized in 2011 while others are ongoing. For instance, in 2011, SEESAC completed the reconstruction of the weapons and ammunition storage facility ‘Taras’ in Montenegro, as well as the reconstruction of the Croatian Ministry of Interior’s central storage facility ‘Murat.’

On 18 November, 2011 over 40 operation–level officers of the Ministries of Defense and Interior from five countries in the SEE region completed SEESAC’s 15-day-long SALW Stockpile Management Training.

The Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA) and the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) also actively participate in both the process of surplus weapons destruction and the improvement of potentially unsafe storage facilities throughout the world.