Theory & Practice

Nobel Peace Prize Exhibition 2013: Combating Chemical Weapons

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Paolo Pellegrin Respirators at the OPCW headquarters in Rijswijk. After every onsite inspection, all equipment is thoroughly checked and sterilized before re-use. The Hague, Netherlands. 2013 © Paolo Pellegrin | Magnum Photos
Paolo Pellegrin The laboratory at the OPCW headquarters in Rijswijk. Analytic chemists use the instruments shown here, gas chromatograph/mass spectrometers (GC/MS), to determine the composition of chemical samples (...)
Paolo Pellegrin LIBYA. Al Juffra region. A chief area of concern is a former military compound in southern Libya, where chemical weapons were stored in a number of bunkers. Today, the sprawling compound is heavily (...)
Paolo Pellegrin A chief area of concern is a former military compound in southern Libya, where chemical weapons were stored in a number of bunkers. Today, the sprawling compound is heavily guarded by Libyan soldie (...)
Paolo Pellegrin Ruachra site. The newly arrived OPCW team tours the onsite facility where the chemical weapons removed from the storage bunkers will be destroyed. Al Juffra region, Libya. 2013. © Paolo Pellegrin | Magnum Photos
Paolo Pellegrin LIBYA. Al Juffra region. Ruachra site. The newly arrived OPCW team tours the onsite facility where the chemical weapons removed from the storage bunkers will be destroyed. 2013. © Paolo Pellegrin | Magnum Photos
Paolo Pellegrin LIBYA. Al Juffra region. A chief area of concern is a former military compound in southern Libya, where chemical weapons were stored in a number of bunkers. Today, the sprawling compound is heavily (...)
Paolo Pellegrin OPCW inspector team in the Ruachra site. This is a chemical wepons site roughly 700 kilometers south east of Tripoli and is made up of several bunkers containing weaponized sulphur mustard gas. (...)
Paolo Pellegrin OPCW inspectors test the hazardous materials (HAZMAT) suits and specialized gloves they will wear when entering the bunkers where chemical weapons

are stored. Al Juffra, Libya. 2013. © Paolo Pellegrin | Magnum Photos
Paolo Pellegrin LIBYA. Al Juffra region. Ruachra site. OPCW inspectors demonstrate the use of hazardous materials suits at a chemical weapons site in Libya. 2013. © Paolo Pellegrin | Magnum Photos
Paolo Pellegrin A chief area of concern is a former military compound in southern Libya, where chemical weapons were stored in a number of bunkers. Today, the sprawling compound is heavily guarded by Libyan soldie (...)
Paolo Pellegrin Ruachra site. OPCW inspectors test the hazardous materials (HAZMAT) suits and specialized gloves they will wear when entering the bunkers where chemical weapons are stored. Al Juffra region, Libya. (...)
Paolo Pellegrin Phosphorus artillery shells recovered from a World War I battlefield. The shells are placed in water to reduce toxicity prior to their destruction. Poelkapelle, Belgium. 2013 © Paolo Pellegrin | Magnum Photos
Paolo Pellegrin It is so common for farmers and construction workers in southwestern Belgium to dig up unexploded ordnance from World War I battlefields that a very simple system has been established for its colle (...)
Paolo Pellegrin BELGIUM. Poelkapelle. Every year, an estimated 150 tons of unexploded ordnance is recovered from the old World War I battlefields of southwestern Belgium. Of this, an estimated 5% or some 7 to 8 to (...)
Paolo Pellegrin Because their work is so extraordinarily dangerous exposure to certain types of chemical weapons in their concentrated form can cause death within seconds OPCW inspectors are kept in a constant sta (...)
Paolo Pellegrin The threat posed by chemical weapons affects peoples and nations throughout the world, as is illustrated by the multinational composition of the OPCW workforce. Among the 17 OPCW inspectors undergo (...)
Paolo Pellegrin Because their work is so extraordinarily dangerous exposure to certain types of chemical weapons in their concentrated form can cause death within seconds OPCW inspectors are kept in a constant sta (...)
Paolo Pellegrin Because their work is so extraordinarily dangerous exposure to certain types of chemical weapons in their concentrated form can cause death within seconds OPCW inspectors are kept in a constant sta (...)
Paolo Pellegrin SERBIA. Krusevac. OPCW inspectors are put through a drill in which they need to examine live weapons and quickly determine whether a chemical warfare agent is potentially present. 2013. © Paolo Pellegrin | Magnum Photos
Paolo Pellegrin The threat posed by chemical weapons affects peoples and nations throughout the world, as is illustrated by the multinational composition of the OPCW workforce. Among the 17 OPCW inspectors undergo (...)
Paolo Pellegrin Most OPCW inspectors have advanced degrees in chemistry and, even more importantly, military backgrounds. As a result, they come into OPCW with an existing knowledge on the proper handling and disp (...)