Sie sind hier: Weapons and Markets / Stockpiles / Unplanned Explosions at Munitions Sites
23.5.2012 : 19:20 : +0200

Unplanned Explosions at Munitions Sites

Posted 15 March 2012

Unplanned explosions at munitions sites (UEMS) are a global problem. Since 1998, incidents of this nature have been reported in every region, in more than a third of UN member states (see Table 1). They have occurred regularly, with an average of three every two months for the ten-year period 1998—2007. According to the forthcoming Small Arms Survey UEMS database, the rate has increased in recent years to more than one every two weeks. During 2011, the average number of explosions increased to 3.8 per month (see Table 2)—the highest rate recorded in a calendar year. It is unclear whether the problem is getting worse or reporting of incidents is improving (see the Figure below). What is clear is that the number of explosions is not decreasing despite efforts to address their causes. 

This database remains very much a work-in-progress. Since this page's previous update in November 2011, eleven new UEMS have been recorded for the three-month period up to 31 January 2012. Not included here is a major UEMS incident that occured in March 2012 (after the period covered in this update) in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, claiming over 200 lives, and displacing thousands. (More information from MAG).

Additional research since the initial release of this page has resulted in the inclusion of 30 other incidents during the period 1998-2010, which included UEMS in five UN Member States previously not listed in our database: Azerbaijan, Dominican Republic, Luxembourg, Malaysia and New Zealand.

Table 1 Number of Reported UEMS by region, sub-region, and UN Member State, 1 January 1998—31 January 2012*

Geographical distribution

Geographical distribution

Number of reported UEMS

Number of events by reporting state

Region

Sub-region

Number of UN Member States by sub-region

Number
of UN Member States reporting UEMS

Number of events

Africa

Eastern Africa

17

4

15

Mozambique (9); Tanzania (4); Kenya (1); Somalia (1)

Middle Africa

9

3

13

Democratic Republic of the Congo (8); Republic of the Congo (4); Angola (1)

Northern Africa

7

4

10

Libya (4); Sudan (3); South Sudana (2);
Egypt (1)

Southern Africa

5

0

0

No events recorded

Western Africa

16

5

9

Nigeria (3); Côte d'Ivoire (2); Guinea (2); Guinea-Bissau (1); Sierra Leone (1)

Americas

Caribbean

13

2

2

Cuba (1), Dominican Republic (1)

Central America

8

4

6

Mexico (3); El Salvador (1); Guatemala (1); Nicaragua (1)

Northern America

2

1

11

United States (11)

South America

12

8

18

Ecuador (7); Colombia (3); Brazil (2);
Venezuela (2); Chile (1); Guyana (1);
Paraguay (1); Peru (1)

Asia

Central Asia

5

4

10

Kazakhstan (6); Uzbekistan (2);
Tajikistan (1); Turkmenistan (1)

Eastern Asia

5

3

17

Chinab (13); North Korea (3);
South Korea (1)

Southern Asia

9

5

67

Afghanistan (20); India (20); Sri Lanka (11);
Iran (9); Pakistan (7)

South-Eastern Asia

11

7

23

Thailand (6); Vietnam (5); Cambodia (4); Philippines (4); Indonesia (2); Laos (1);
Malaysia (1)

Western Asia

17

10

41

Iraq (15); Yemen (8); Lebanon (5); Turkey (5); Georgia (2); Israelc (2); Azerbaijan (1);
Cyprus (1); Kuwait (1); Syria (1)

Europe

Eastern Europe

10

6

66

Russian Federation (46); Ukraine (10);
Bulgaria (6); Romania (2); Poland (1);
Slovakia (1)

Northern Europe

10

2

3

United Kingdom (2); Denmark (1)

Southern Europe

14

8

22

Serbia (8); Albania (5); Bosnia and Herzegovina  (2); Croatia (2); Montenegro (2); Italy (1);
Slovenia (1); Spain (1)

Western Europe

9

3

13

Germany (8); France (4); Luxembourgd (1)

Oceania

Australia and New Zealand

2

1

1

New Zealand (1)

Melanesia

4

0

0

No events recorded

Micronesia

5

0

0

No events recorded

Polynesia

3

0

0

No events recorded

Grand Total

Member States

193

80

347

 

 

*According to United Nations Statistic Division (Revised in July 2011).


a. The two incidents were recorded in Juba, in 2005 and 2007, before South Sudan became the 193rd UN Member State (on 14 July 2011) and after the signature of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (on 9 January 2005).  

b. Including ten incidents recorded in Taiwan. In 1971 the UN recognized Taiwan to be a province of China.

c. The two incidents in question took place in the Palestinian Territories, involving non-state stockpiles.

d. The depot where the incident took place has been the Belgian Army's main munitions store since 1993.  


Sources: Wilkinson (2011); Zahaczewsky (2011); Small Arms Survey UEMS database (forthcoming).

 

Table 2 UEMS Incidents from 1 January 2011 to 31 January 2012*

ID

2011

ID

MONTH

DAY

COUNTRY

FATAL

INJURED

1

January

5

Côte d'Ivoire

0

2

2

30

Venezuela

1

0

3

February

11

Romania

2

1

4

16

Tanzania

32

145

5

24

Spain

5

3

6

March

4

Libya

27

20

7

5

Cuba

0

0

8

27

Yemen

150

27

9

April

6

Russian Federation

4

4

10

11

Russian Federation

6

12

11

25

Pakistan

0

14

12

27

Albania

0

1

13

28

Albania

1

3

14

May

1

United States

0

0

15

11

United States

0

0

16

26

Yemen

28

#N/A

17

26

Russian Federation

1

12

18

26

Ukraine

2

1

19

June

2

Russian Federation

2

100

20

15

Germany

0

1

21

29

Libya

0

0

22

July

1

Luxembourg

0

2

23

4

Russian Federation

2

100

24

7

Turkmenistan

100

1'382

25

11

Cyprus

12

62

26

11

Pakistan

1

3

27

12

Russian Federation

2

2

28

August

23

Russian Federation

6

12

29

September

14

Croatia

0

0

30

19

Viet Nam

1

10

31

24

Libya

#N/A

#N/A

32

26

Sri Lanka

0

1

33

30

Bosnia and Herzegovina

#N/A

#N/A

34

October

6

Germany

0

3

35

7

Democratic Republic of the Congo

#N/A

#N/A

36

7

Democratic Republic of the Congo

#N/A

#N/A

37

8

Denmark

2

#N/A

38

17

Russian Federation

2

2

39

28

China

7

8

40

November

12

Bulgaria

0

0

41

12

Iran

36

#N/A

42

12

Azerbaijan

0

0

43

23

Lebanon

#N/A

#N/A

44

December

6

Libya

10

#N/A

45

8

Ecuador

0

23

46

17

Venezuela

#N/A

#N/A

Total 2011

442

1969

2012

ID

MONTH

DAY

COUNTRY

FATAL

INJURED

 

1

January

2

Turkey

4

0

 

2

11

Bulgaria

1

1

 

3

17

Bulgaria

0

1

 

4

19

United States

0

1

 

Total 2012

5

3

 

 *Small Arms Survey (Forthcoming).

Figure Number of Recorded UEMS by Year, January 1998—January 2012



* NB: Total for 2012 covers only January

 

Definition

Unplanned Explosions at Munitions Sites (UEMS) include accidents1 resulting in the explosion2 of abandoned3, damaged4, improperly stored5, or properly stored stockpiles of munitions6 and explosives. For our purposes, munitions sites comprise storage areas7 (including those temporarily maintained during demilitarization or explosive ordnance disposal) and processing sites,8 whether temporary or permanent. Ammunition manufacturing facilities (ordnance factories) are not included, but accidents during ammunition processing operations within munitions sites have been included where known.

1. An accident is defined as: ‘an undesired event, which results in harm’ (UNODA, 2011, para. 3.5, p.2). ‘Harm’ is defined as: ‘physical injury or damage to the health of people, or damage to property or the environment’ (UNODA, 2011, para. 3.120, p. 14).

2. An explosion is defined as: ‘a sudden release of energy producing a blast effect with the possible projection of fragments. The term explosion encompasses fast combustion, deflagration and detonation’ (UNODA, 2011, para. 3.95, p.11).

3. Abandoned Explosive Ordnance (AXO) is defined as: ‘explosive ordnance that has not been used during an armed conflict, that has been left behind or dumped by a party to an armed conflict, and which is no longer under control of the party that left it behind or dumped it. Abandoned explosive ordnance may or may not have been primed, fuzed, armed or otherwise prepared for use’ (UNODA, 2011, para. 3.1, p.1).

4. Damaged munitions refer to the physical or chemical deterioration of ammunition and explosives.

5. Munitions are considered improperly stored when storage does not generally follow accepted multilateral norms or guidelines, or existing national legislation and controls.

6. Munitions is used in this definition—and in common usage—to refer to weapons, ammunition, explosives and components. A number of armed forces and ammunition specialists, however, use the term munitions to refer solely to complete rounds of ammunition (cf. Ammunition) (Bevan and Wilkinson, 2008, p. xxvi). Ammunition: A complete device (e.g. missile, shell, mine, demolition store, etc.) charged with explosives; propellants; pyrotechnics; initiating composition; or nuclear, biological, or chemical material for use in connection with offence, or defence, or training, or non-operational purposes, including those parts of weapons systems containing explosives (cf. Munition) (Bevan and Wilkinson, 2008, p. xix).

7. An Explosive Storage Area (ESA) is defined as: ‘an area used for the storage of explosives and within which authorised ammunition or missile preparation, inspection and rectification operations may also be carried out’ (UNODA, 2011, para. 3.108, p.12).

8. An ammunition process [site] is defined as: ‘a building or area that contains or is intended to contain one or more of the following activities: maintenance, preparation, inspection, breakdown, renovation, test or repair of ammunition and explosives’ (UNODA, 2011, para. 3.12, p.2).

 

 

This page will be routinely updated. For additional information and to report incidents not listed, please contact Small Arms Survey Research Assistant Pilar Reina:
pilar.reina@
smallarmssurvey.org

 

References

Bevan, James and Adrian Wilkinson. 2008. ‘Glossary of Conventional Ammunition Terminology.’ In James Bevan, ed. Conventional Ammunition in Surplus: A Reference Guide. Geneva: Small Arms Survey, pp. xix–xxxiii.

Small Arms Survey. Forthcoming. ‘Unplanned Explosions at Munitions Sites database’. Geneva: Small Arms Survey.

UNODA (United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs). 2011. ‘International Ammunition Technical Guidelines: Glossary of terms, definitions and abbreviations.’ (ATG 01.40). First edition. New York: UNODA. October.

Wilkinson, Adrian. 2011. ‘The threat from explosive events in ammunition storage areas’. Edition No. 2, May. Kent: Explosive Capabilities Limited.

Zahaczewsky, George. 2011. ‘Major Ammunition Accidents – Compilation of events from 1917 to 2011’. Unpublished document.

 

 

Small Arms Survey Publications

  • Significant Surpluses: Weapons and Ammunition Stockpiles in South-east Europe, by Pierre Gobinet, a joint publication of the Regional Approach for Stockpile Reduction, the US Department of State’s Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement, and the Small Arms Survey, December 2011. Special Report No. 13

    Download (2.25 MB)

  • Safer Stockpiles: Practitioners’ Experiences with Physical Security and Stockpile Management (PSSM) Assistance Programmes, edited by Benjamin King, April 2011. Occasional Paper No. 27

    Download (965.63 KB)

  • Scraping the Barrel: The Trade in Surplus Ammunition, April 2011. Issue Brief No. 2

    Download (1.6 MB)

  • Surplus Arms in South America: A Survey, by Aaron Karp, a study by the Small Arms Survey in cooperation with the Conflict Analysis Resource Center (CERAC), August 2009. Working Paper No. 7 (also available in Spanish and Portuguese)

    Download (433.14 KB)

  • The Politics of Destroying Surplus Small Arms - Inconspicuous Disarmament, edited by Aaron Karp, published by Routledge, July 2009.

    More information

  • Conventional Ammunition in Surplus: A Reference Guide, edited by James Bevan, co-published with BICC, FAS, GRIP, and SEESAC with support from the German Federal Foreign Office, January 2008.

    More information
File 1 to 10 out of 10
First < Back Page 1 Next > Last

Other Publications

  • United States Department of State, Bureau of Political–Military Affairs. 2012. Dangerous Depots: The Growing Humanitarian Problem Posed by Aging and Poorly Maintained Munitions Storage Sites. Washington: US Department of State.

    More information

  • Berman, Eric G., Pierre Gobinet and Pilar Reina. 2011. Dangerous Stockpiles: Unplanned Explosions' High Costs, in NATO Review.

    More information

  • North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). 2010. Manual of NATO Safety Principles for the Storage of Military Ammunition and Explosives. Brussels: NATO. 

    Download

  • South Eastern and Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SEESAC). 2007. Ammunition and Explosives Storage and Safety. RMDS/G 05.40, 5th edn. Belgrade: SEESAC.

    Download

  • Regional Centre on Small Arms and Light Weapons (RECSA). 2005. Best Practice Guidelines for the Implementation of the Nairobi Declaration and the Nairobi Protocol on Small Arms and Light Weapons. Nairobi: RECSA

    Download
File 1 to 5 out of 5
First < Back Page 1 Next > Last

Further Resources