0:00:02 > 0:00:06This programme contains scenes which viewers may find upsetting.
0:00:06 > 0:00:07This is CS gas.
0:00:09 > 0:00:11It's designed to hurt, not kill.
0:00:12 > 0:00:17It's one of the few chemical weapons I can be exposed to and survive.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24When you are happy, take your mask off and remove your respirator.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29- Open your eyes.- OK.
0:00:29 > 0:00:30OK, what's your name?
0:00:30 > 0:00:33Michael... Oh, God! Ah!
0:00:33 > 0:00:36COUGHING AND SPLUTTERING
0:00:40 > 0:00:42Jesus!
0:00:42 > 0:00:45COUGHING
0:00:47 > 0:00:49GASPING
0:00:51 > 0:00:54Don't rub your eyes, Michael, you will make it worse.
0:00:54 > 0:00:55How, really...?
0:00:55 > 0:00:56Oh, Jesus!
0:01:00 > 0:01:05I generally thought it was going to be quite mild, but it's...
0:01:05 > 0:01:08I can see why they use it in those situations.
0:01:08 > 0:01:09You cannot...
0:01:10 > 0:01:12..stay there.
0:01:15 > 0:01:18CS gas is one of the many chemical weapons developed
0:01:18 > 0:01:21at Britain's top-secret military research base,
0:01:21 > 0:01:24which this year celebrates its 100th anniversary.
0:01:26 > 0:01:29We've been given unprecedented access to Porton Down
0:01:29 > 0:01:32and to research being done in secure laboratories.
0:01:33 > 0:01:37Biological and chemical weapons.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40There's enough there to kill hundreds of thousands of people.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43Their impact is unbounded.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48This is research that is aimed at protecting British military,
0:01:48 > 0:01:50but also civilians, from terrorist attack.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57But Porton Down also have their dark secrets.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01The only thought that the government had was let's hush it up.
0:02:01 > 0:02:04It's about keeping this nation safe
0:02:04 > 0:02:06and some of that we need to keep secret
0:02:06 > 0:02:10to make sure we stay ahead of the people who would do us harm.
0:02:10 > 0:02:12This is the most secret, controversial
0:02:12 > 0:02:17and misunderstood scientific and military institution in the UK.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37CAR RADIO: "Porton Down has long been the home to the most sensitive
0:02:37 > 0:02:41"work in defence, but now it's being prepared to..."
0:02:41 > 0:02:43I'm Dr Michael Mosley and I've seen close-up
0:02:43 > 0:02:48what happens to soldiers and civilians on the front line,
0:02:48 > 0:02:51which is why I'm particularly fascinated by Porton Down,
0:02:51 > 0:02:55also known as the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory,
0:02:55 > 0:03:00where so much secret British military research takes place.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02I'm actually getting a little tingle of excitement
0:03:02 > 0:03:04at the thought of going in.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09Porton Down has been described as the most secret place in Britain.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13It is, therefore, a huge privilege and thrill, I have to say,
0:03:13 > 0:03:15being allowed into it.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18I'll be very curious to see what they actually show us
0:03:18 > 0:03:20and, to some extent, what they don't show us.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25- Pass. Thanks.- Thank you very much.
0:03:25 > 0:03:27- Hi there.- Hi, Michael.- Hello.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31- Nice to see you.- Nice to meet you. - Thank you.- Let me show you around.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34Many people may have heard of Porton Down,
0:03:34 > 0:03:37but many more will have no idea what really goes on in here.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41I'm certainly hoping to find out.
0:03:41 > 0:03:42Hello.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48Right. Magical mystery tour.
0:03:48 > 0:03:49Let's go.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55Do you do many guided tours for journalists?
0:03:55 > 0:03:56Not for journalists.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59It does have quite a reputation as a site.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01In what way?
0:04:01 > 0:04:03Historically, there's so many aliens
0:04:03 > 0:04:05and so many everything else that's supposed to be here.
0:04:05 > 0:04:08So, what have we got? We've got... what on my left?
0:04:08 > 0:04:10Well, the large white building you've got there
0:04:10 > 0:04:13is the first permanent building that was ever built on the site
0:04:13 > 0:04:17- and that was built in 1918 by the Royal Engineers.- OK.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19So what is the blue building over there?
0:04:19 > 0:04:21Our current headquarters.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24It seems to have quite a lot of security outside, doesn't it?
0:04:24 > 0:04:26A lot of police, a lot of physical security
0:04:26 > 0:04:28and a lot of electronic security.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30Has there ever been a breach?
0:04:30 > 0:04:33Not into any of the sensitive areas that we have.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37Security is very tight
0:04:37 > 0:04:40and has affected the way we make this film.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42What's that sort of industrial thing over there?
0:04:42 > 0:04:45Sorry, I can't give you any details on that.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47We can't show many buildings.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50We can't fully identify the staff
0:04:50 > 0:04:53or even reveal their exact roles.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56There's one quite strange looking building over there.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58That one stands out.
0:04:58 > 0:05:00That's one of the buildings that we don't discuss.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03And in looking at it, you have no idea what is going on inside them.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05Well, that's the idea.
0:05:05 > 0:05:06There are plenty of forms of technology
0:05:06 > 0:05:10- that are looking at this site. - Suitably anonymous.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13Some of it is a strange old mixture of slightly dilapidated-looking
0:05:13 > 0:05:16stuff over there and brand-new-looking stuff over there.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18The site permanently evolves
0:05:18 > 0:05:20because the threat to the UK,
0:05:20 > 0:05:23to defence, is permanently evolving.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29Today, the military needs to respond
0:05:29 > 0:05:34to a barrage of new and unfamiliar threats -
0:05:34 > 0:05:36rogue nations,
0:05:36 > 0:05:37terrorists,
0:05:37 > 0:05:40asymmetric warfare.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44The man running Porton Down is Jonathan Lyle.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47He is the only member of staff we can fully identify.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52He manages 3,000 scientists
0:05:52 > 0:05:54and their £0.5 billion annual budget.
0:05:56 > 0:05:59And it's really important that we anticipate future technologies,
0:05:59 > 0:06:01making sure that we are ahead of the game
0:06:01 > 0:06:03in terms of scientific advances
0:06:03 > 0:06:05that could give our armed forces an advantage.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09And, you know, we were formed 100 years ago this year
0:06:09 > 0:06:11to respond to the threat of chemical weapons
0:06:11 > 0:06:13that had emerged in the First World War
0:06:13 > 0:06:17and I'm very proud of 100 years of doing that here today.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26Spring, 1915.
0:06:28 > 0:06:29A year into the war
0:06:29 > 0:06:31the Germans used a new weapon,
0:06:31 > 0:06:34a chemical weapon,
0:06:34 > 0:06:35chlorine gas.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39With no idea what it was,
0:06:39 > 0:06:41the soldiers inhaled the deadly cloud.
0:06:41 > 0:06:47It reacted with water in their lungs, producing hydrochloric acid.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49The burns caused suffocation and death.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55In that first attack, over 800 died.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58A new terror spread across the Western Front.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03Britain's Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener,
0:07:03 > 0:07:05demanded an immediate response.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10The result was a new laboratory,
0:07:10 > 0:07:12away from prying eyes,
0:07:12 > 0:07:14in the heart of rural England.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20They called it the War Department Experimental Ground.
0:07:20 > 0:07:21Porton.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28It rapidly became like a mini town.
0:07:28 > 0:07:31There were carpenters, plumbers, even a blacksmith.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34Over there, there were some chemical laboratories
0:07:34 > 0:07:39and over there were huts where they stored animals for experiments.
0:07:39 > 0:07:42And this, the HQ, was the first permanent building.
0:07:47 > 0:07:51The Germans had come up with this new, very potent weapon,
0:07:51 > 0:07:55so there was a real pressure on Porton
0:07:55 > 0:07:59to get to grips with what exactly this new weapon was,
0:07:59 > 0:08:01how it worked,
0:08:01 > 0:08:04how it could be used as a weapon and how they could defend against it.
0:08:06 > 0:08:11Porton Down's priority was to develop their own chemical weapons
0:08:11 > 0:08:12to retaliate.
0:08:13 > 0:08:17From the moment Britain is developing a chemical warfare
0:08:17 > 0:08:22capability you see officials stating that they only can
0:08:22 > 0:08:25get an understanding of defensive operation
0:08:25 > 0:08:27by doing, actually, also offensive research.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38They tested the new weapons in their own back yard,
0:08:38 > 0:08:40a 7,000-acre firing range.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48Down there in the bowl they would have had canisters
0:08:48 > 0:08:52full of poison gas and they would be released either by a timer or
0:08:52 > 0:08:55perhaps by somebody sort of opening it up.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59They also filled shells with poison gas and fired them
0:08:59 > 0:09:00from Battery Hill over there,
0:09:00 > 0:09:03up that way towards the target.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05Now, many of those shells actually failed to explode,
0:09:05 > 0:09:09which means that the hills around here are riddled with shells
0:09:09 > 0:09:11which still contain active agent.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20Part of that legacy lies behind these gates
0:09:20 > 0:09:23at a classified location within Porton Down's range.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29Thousands of unexploded chemical weapons.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33Some are from Porton.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36Some were collected from other old firing ranges.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40Mark is responsible for destroying these shells.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42Wow. These things look... Wow.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47This is our main storage area here
0:09:47 > 0:09:49and these contain a chemical called stannic chloride.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51OK. Blimey.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53- Go in here. - And what would these contain?
0:09:53 > 0:09:57- They would contain either phosgene or mustard.- Really?
0:09:57 > 0:10:00- You see, the most common gas we get is mustard gas.- Yeah.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03And second to that is bromobenzyl cyanide.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06Those are the two most common ones, but we also have gases
0:10:06 > 0:10:09such as chlorine, phosgene and hydrogen cyanide.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16Many of these chemicals kill by interfering with
0:10:16 > 0:10:19the uptake of oxygen in the lungs or in the blood.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24Many are still as deadly as the day they were made.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29Just to show you stuff that has come in recently.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32- So this is stuff that we've recovered from a beach.- Blimey.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36- They are former chemical shells. - All of this came from a beach?- Yes.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39- Can you tell me where?- I can't.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42Right. OK. I kind of suspected you might say that.
0:10:42 > 0:10:43And what would that contain?
0:10:43 > 0:10:46Those, mustard or bromobenzyl cyanide.
0:10:46 > 0:10:47Right.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52All of them are extremely poisonous
0:10:52 > 0:10:56and this is the only place in the UK licensed to destroy this stuff.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06I'm going to follow one shell on its journey to destruction.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10They begin by using powerful X-rays to look inside.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13SIREN BEEPS
0:11:16 > 0:11:19We can clearly see the liquid level here. So this is the liquid level.
0:11:19 > 0:11:20The reason we do it at an angle
0:11:20 > 0:11:22is so we can depict that it is a liquid level
0:11:22 > 0:11:27- cos if we did it upright you couldn't tell whether it's a solid or a liquid.- Right.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30Next, they need to identify exactly what is in the shell
0:11:30 > 0:11:32using a neutron beam.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38Chemical weapons each have their own unique atomic signature.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45This is the neutron activation analysis result.
0:11:45 > 0:11:49As we can see on here, we've got the various elements that come up
0:11:49 > 0:11:52and that's high confidence that those elements are present
0:11:52 > 0:11:54- within the shell.- Right.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58So that immediately tells us that we have mustard gas in it.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03Mustard gas is one of the most infamous chemical agents of all time.
0:12:05 > 0:12:09This shell will now continue its journey to destruction.
0:12:14 > 0:12:17To find out more about mustard gas
0:12:17 > 0:12:19I'm going to a part of Porton Down
0:12:19 > 0:12:21where cameras have never been before.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26Now, this is very unusual
0:12:26 > 0:12:30because we are in a high security part of Porton Down,
0:12:30 > 0:12:34which is where they make some of the CWAs,
0:12:34 > 0:12:36the chemical warfare agents.
0:12:36 > 0:12:38In fact, we're about to see it happen.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44Only a small handful of scientists are allowed to make them
0:12:44 > 0:12:46and only then for specific research purposes.
0:12:48 > 0:12:49Marcus is one of them.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52Hello. I'd better not... Do I shake your hand?
0:12:52 > 0:12:54- Hi, there.- Nice to meet you. - Welcome to two-five.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56Hi, there.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58Right. A big skull and crossbones on that one.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01That's right, yeah, we keep them in these,
0:13:01 > 0:13:02what we call toxic carriers
0:13:02 > 0:13:06and inside we've got the mustard itself.
0:13:06 > 0:13:11"Those who've inhaled it describe it as smelling like mustard or garlic."
0:13:11 > 0:13:12It's frozen, look.
0:13:12 > 0:13:17So, at 14 degrees it freezes and just becomes like ice.
0:13:17 > 0:13:18And that's what it looks like.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22So it was one of the real things that people feared.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24Again, the First World War, presumably now,
0:13:24 > 0:13:26since it's still being used,
0:13:26 > 0:13:29and was that because it kind of hung around for a long time?
0:13:29 > 0:13:32Yeah, it's one of the more persistent of the agents
0:13:32 > 0:13:36but it's more because, you know, you get it on your skin
0:13:36 > 0:13:41and it slowly sort of works its way in
0:13:41 > 0:13:44and then gives you these huge debilitating blisters.
0:13:44 > 0:13:48Incredibly painful, but it doesn't kill you.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50Unless we get it right down into your lungs
0:13:50 > 0:13:53you are likely to survive if you get mustard on your skin, yeah.
0:13:53 > 0:13:54But just horrifically painful?
0:13:54 > 0:13:59Horrifically painful, big blisters, no real treatment for these things.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07Now, this is an atlas of gas poisoning
0:14:07 > 0:14:11and it was distributed by the British government to doctors
0:14:11 > 0:14:15on the front line to let them know just what they were facing.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20These images paint a shocking picture
0:14:20 > 0:14:23of the horror of mustard gas.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26He actually was very unlucky because he just sat on ground
0:14:26 > 0:14:28which had been contaminated by poison gas
0:14:28 > 0:14:31and it managed to seep through his clothing
0:14:31 > 0:14:32and onto his buttocks,
0:14:32 > 0:14:35and you can see, here, they are all red, they are blistered.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38This must have been incredibly painful but he made a full recovery.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41There's a painting here, gangrene of the foot.
0:14:41 > 0:14:43This is caused by chlorine poisoning
0:14:43 > 0:14:45and this guy actually survived,
0:14:45 > 0:14:49but a couple of his toes went black, shrivelled and had to be removed.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54And finally, we have another picture here,
0:14:54 > 0:14:56and it's obviously postmortem,
0:14:56 > 0:14:58and it shows his trachea,
0:14:58 > 0:15:01and you can see it's horrible, it's red,
0:15:01 > 0:15:04it's inflamed and it's just full of pus.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07And this guy almost certainly sort of drowned in his own...
0:15:07 > 0:15:09Yeah.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11A terrible, terrible way to go.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18"If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
0:15:18 > 0:15:22"Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
0:15:22 > 0:15:25"Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
0:15:25 > 0:15:30"Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,
0:15:30 > 0:15:33"My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
0:15:33 > 0:15:37"To children ardent for some desperate glory,
0:15:37 > 0:15:40"The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
0:15:40 > 0:15:41"Pro patria mori."
0:15:50 > 0:15:53In response to the deadly gas attacks
0:15:53 > 0:15:55and the fear they created,
0:15:55 > 0:15:58Porton Down's scientists began developing masks
0:15:58 > 0:15:59to protect the troops.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02So this is where it all begins, is it?
0:16:02 > 0:16:04'Colin manages today's respirator technology,
0:16:04 > 0:16:08'which has come a long way from the Black Veil.'
0:16:08 > 0:16:11It doesn't look very effective. What would this have been impregnated with?
0:16:11 > 0:16:14That would have been impregnated with sodium thiosulphate,
0:16:14 > 0:16:17washing soda or sodium carbonate and glycerin.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20So that would've reacted chemically with the chlorine.
0:16:20 > 0:16:22And would that have worked at all?
0:16:22 > 0:16:24It would have been better than nothing.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26It would probably provide some sort of escape capability
0:16:26 > 0:16:30to the wearer, but... So that was the very first response.
0:16:30 > 0:16:32And this one is obviously pretty early as well.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34Yeah, this was round about 1916.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37There were various variants of the hood-type respirator.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41Again, it is a fabric impregnated with chemical.
0:16:41 > 0:16:43Would this have protected you against chlorine?
0:16:43 > 0:16:46It would have provided protection against chlorine
0:16:46 > 0:16:49and this particular version would have provided protection against phosgene as well.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51What sort of period is this?
0:16:51 > 0:16:53This is probably about 1916, 1917.
0:16:53 > 0:16:55This is the light-type respirator.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58Now you are starting to see something that resembles
0:16:58 > 0:16:59a respirator of today.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02It's got a rudimentary face piece, but importantly now,
0:17:02 > 0:17:05we have an activated carbon filter.
0:17:05 > 0:17:06- This black stuff here?- Yeah.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08The absorptive properties of activated carbon
0:17:08 > 0:17:10have been known for millennia.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14So by this point you've got something which is really quite good.
0:17:14 > 0:17:17Yeah. It's a far cry from the first response.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22- Gas, gas, gas.- Gas, gas, gas. - Gas, gas, gas.
0:17:22 > 0:17:26Because of the very real threat of being attacked by chemical agents,
0:17:26 > 0:17:29modern soldiers are still trained in how to respond.
0:17:31 > 0:17:35This is the latest in a long line of gas mask technology.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38It is the general service respirator,
0:17:38 > 0:17:39the GSR.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46At Porton Down, we are putting it through its paces.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52All this testing equipment is designed to find out
0:17:52 > 0:17:54if the mask leaks.
0:17:55 > 0:17:56How heavy is this one?
0:17:56 > 0:17:58It's about 12 kilos.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01Not that heavy by soldier standards.
0:18:01 > 0:18:02OK.
0:18:04 > 0:18:06This mist looks really nasty,
0:18:06 > 0:18:10but it is actually a harmless oil-based aerosol.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14My exercises are designed to reflect real battlefield movements -
0:18:14 > 0:18:16crawling,
0:18:16 > 0:18:18running,
0:18:18 > 0:18:20digging.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25Sensors monitor the quality of the air I am breathing
0:18:25 > 0:18:27because in a real chemical attack
0:18:27 > 0:18:30even the slightest leak could be fatal.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37Thanks. Phew.
0:18:37 > 0:18:39Bits coming off. Right. Ooh, God.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41That was quite close to phobia, I must admit.
0:18:41 > 0:18:43And it's also very weird being in there with all that,
0:18:43 > 0:18:47sort of, smoke and particles, but I guess the next thing to do is
0:18:47 > 0:18:50find out whether this thing actually protected me. So, how did I do?
0:18:50 > 0:18:53- Well, as expected, Michael, you got excellent results.- OK.
0:18:53 > 0:18:58You can see very, very low levels of ingress within the respirator.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00Reassuring, I guess, that it worked.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03And under real conditions you can see you've got excellent results.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05Because there's one thing putting it on in the lab-type situation
0:19:05 > 0:19:10- and there's another, kind of, actually running around with it. - That's right.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19Back in the classified area within Porton's range,
0:19:19 > 0:19:23the shell containing mustard is ready to be destroyed.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38They are now in a sealed chamber, effectively a large lab there,
0:19:38 > 0:19:41and the shell has been deep frozen so the agent inside it,
0:19:41 > 0:19:44the chemical agent, is now definitely solid
0:19:44 > 0:19:46and in a moment they're going to take it over there
0:19:46 > 0:19:48and they're going to chop it in half,
0:19:48 > 0:19:52separating out the explosive bit from the chemical agent bit.
0:19:55 > 0:19:56There it goes.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02Opening the shell demands great care and precision.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05Cutting too high could detonate it.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13Once the saw is set, the team is evacuated
0:20:13 > 0:20:14to 100 metres away.
0:20:16 > 0:20:20- So this is all remote controlled. - Yes, a remote controlled bandsaw.
0:20:20 > 0:20:25And our aim is to separate the explosive component with the agent.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28Cutting...
0:20:28 > 0:20:29Now.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43- I can see the steam coming off now. - That's the agent...- Right, OK.
0:20:43 > 0:20:49So that is actually mustard gas, mustard liquid, coming out, is it?
0:20:49 > 0:20:52You can actually see the agent itself around the roller bearings.
0:20:52 > 0:20:57- There's a nice pool.- You wouldn't want to be in that room.- No.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00Will it sort of evaporate off, or just hang around there?
0:21:00 > 0:21:04- No, it'll hang around there for a considerable amount of time.- OK.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09We're nearly through now.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12There you go. It's stopped.
0:21:12 > 0:21:13Power off.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25Just to confirm, four miles...
0:21:25 > 0:21:27Roger.
0:21:27 > 0:21:29The mustard is still highly toxic,
0:21:29 > 0:21:31poisoning the air inside the laboratory.
0:21:33 > 0:21:34With the detonator removed,
0:21:34 > 0:21:37the mustard gas can finally be destroyed.
0:21:39 > 0:21:44It's incinerated at over 800 degrees for 24 hours.
0:21:48 > 0:21:52This is painfully slow work and there are thousands
0:21:52 > 0:21:56of unexploded shells waiting to be destroyed.
0:21:56 > 0:21:58And more being found every year.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03Removing the legacy of Britain's chemical weapons could take
0:22:03 > 0:22:05a generation.
0:22:10 > 0:22:15In 1925, the major world powers signed the Geneva Protocol,
0:22:15 > 0:22:19which banned the use of chemical weapons in warfare.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22But surprisingly, it didn't ban their development.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29During the Second World War, the British military became
0:22:29 > 0:22:34convinced that Hitler was about to renege on the Geneva Protocol
0:22:34 > 0:22:36and unleash chemical weapons.
0:22:38 > 0:22:45To keep ahead, in 1942, Porton Down started their own secret project
0:22:45 > 0:22:48to produce a completely different type of weapon.
0:22:48 > 0:22:50A weapon that harnessed nature.
0:22:54 > 0:22:56Not chemical, but biological.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05Biological weapons are live organisms.
0:23:05 > 0:23:07Biological weapons can replicate themselves.
0:23:07 > 0:23:12If you're using an infectious disease, once you've infected
0:23:12 > 0:23:16a certain part of the population, that would then spread on its own.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19Their potential impact is unbounded.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28This is Gruinard Island.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33During the war, it was the unlikely location of Porton Down's new
0:23:33 > 0:23:36biological weapons testing programme.
0:23:38 > 0:23:42It would be the West's first weapon of mass destruction.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47'It was here in 1942 that the very first scientifically
0:23:47 > 0:23:51'controlled BW field trials were carried out.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53'Sheep were used for the trials.'
0:23:55 > 0:23:56Morning.
0:23:56 > 0:23:58Very good, thanks.
0:24:01 > 0:24:03The island sits in a wide bay,
0:24:03 > 0:24:08far from any centre of population on the north-west coast of Scotland.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12It was the perfect place for Porton scientists to secretly
0:24:12 > 0:24:14test their new weapon.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23To do their tests, they needed a bleak, isolated island,
0:24:23 > 0:24:28some animals to experiment on, and a suitably lethal microbe.
0:24:31 > 0:24:36The microbe they used was Bacillus anthracis, anthrax.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39It causes severe and often fatal respiratory collapse.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46And it's persistent.
0:24:46 > 0:24:49Its spores can lie dormant in soil for decades.
0:24:49 > 0:24:51After Porton had done their experiments,
0:24:51 > 0:24:55the island had to be quarantined for 40 years,
0:24:55 > 0:24:57before it was finally cleaned up.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02This is a bleak place, isn't it?
0:25:06 > 0:25:09The plan was to build an anthrax bomb
0:25:09 > 0:25:11and test its effectiveness on sheep.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18The bacterium that causes anthrax is a very hardy little organism.
0:25:18 > 0:25:21It forms a spore, which protects it against high temperatures
0:25:21 > 0:25:23and extreme environments.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26But how do you turn the spore into a weapon?
0:25:34 > 0:25:39This is an aerosol. Tiny drops of liquid in air.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42And if I play them by this machine, you can
0:25:42 > 0:25:45see they are absolutely tiny.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47One to three microns across.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50Which means there are probably about a 30th of the width
0:25:50 > 0:25:52of a human hair.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54The thing is that because they are so small,
0:25:54 > 0:25:59if there were spores inside there, they would go deep inside the lungs.
0:25:59 > 0:26:03It also means that they can travel considerable distances.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08The challenge was to suspend anthrax in an aerosol.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14'The sheep are being put into exposure crates
0:26:14 > 0:26:16'to ensure that it faces the cloud.'
0:26:20 > 0:26:24I'm going to recreate part of their experiment, using a harmless cloud.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36'The bomb is fired and the wind carries the cloud towards
0:26:36 > 0:26:38'the line of animals and impingers.'
0:26:41 > 0:26:44Downwind, a particle counter measures
0:26:44 > 0:26:46the concentration of the aerosol.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50Can you imagine sort of sheep tethered here,
0:26:50 > 0:26:53having no idea what's about to hit them?
0:26:53 > 0:26:56The anthrax spores just spreading out.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00And the particles are going to hit me now.
0:27:00 > 0:27:04Yep, there they go, shooting up. We're now at 40,000, 68,000.
0:27:06 > 0:27:11In the original experiment, every particle would contain some spores.
0:27:12 > 0:27:15And they would have started to breathe in,
0:27:15 > 0:27:18the spores would have gone deep into their lungs.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21It's actually very, very chilling when you see it
0:27:21 > 0:27:25and you can imagine the scientists over there and the sheep here.
0:27:31 > 0:27:32The experiment worked.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37In fact, the results were even better than they had dared hope.
0:27:39 > 0:27:42'On the third day after exposure, the casualties begin.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45'Dead sheep can be seen further down the line.
0:27:45 > 0:27:47'They show conclusively that bacteria could be put
0:27:47 > 0:27:51'up by a simple weapon and that the results might be much more
0:27:51 > 0:27:53'striking than with a chemical filling.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57'This was, of course, something that had never been demonstrated before.'
0:27:59 > 0:28:03Although in World War I, chemical weapons were often deadly,
0:28:03 > 0:28:06many like mustard injured more than they killed.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10Anthrax was different.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13It had the potential to produce massive fatalities.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19An anthrax bomb went into production.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22Thankfully, Britain never had to use it.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27Which turned out to be a wise decision.
0:28:31 > 0:28:34As the war ended, the Allies discovered that Nazi
0:28:34 > 0:28:37scientists had perfected a new type of chemical weapon.
0:28:42 > 0:28:44A nerve agent called sarin.
0:28:47 > 0:28:50A colourless, odourless liquid.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53Lethal in even the tiniest amounts.
0:28:53 > 0:28:57In this harrowing footage from Sweden,
0:28:57 > 0:29:00a rabbit is given a lethal dose of sarin.
0:29:02 > 0:29:04'This is an authentic laboratory record.
0:29:04 > 0:29:07'The effects would be the same in man.
0:29:09 > 0:29:15'The pupils shrink, the eyes and nose run, the mouth drools.
0:29:15 > 0:29:18'The chest is tight and the heart slows down.'
0:29:28 > 0:29:31Inside one of Porton Down's most secure laboratories,
0:29:31 > 0:29:36I'm about to encounter the Nazis' most infamous nerve agent.
0:29:45 > 0:29:49That's a crude version, so that's impure sarin.
0:29:49 > 0:29:52- And that is what pure sarin looks like.- Really?
0:29:52 > 0:29:55- Don't get too close. - I'm being told not to get too close.
0:29:55 > 0:29:59- You can put your hands on here.- I'm a bit enthusiastic.- Don't get close.
0:29:59 > 0:30:01Thank you very much, yeah.
0:30:01 > 0:30:04Now, this is very different to anything that I've seen before
0:30:04 > 0:30:09because this is sarin, which is a hugely notorious liquid.
0:30:09 > 0:30:13It's actually a nerve agent. Nasty symptoms associated with it.
0:30:13 > 0:30:15This really is very, very evil stuff.
0:30:18 > 0:30:21Now, your nerves are a bit like an electrical system.
0:30:21 > 0:30:24What would normally happen is you stub your toe, for example,
0:30:24 > 0:30:29the signal goes down the wires to a synapse, represented by the bell. BELL RINGS
0:30:30 > 0:30:34Then, the nerves release a neurotransmitter called
0:30:34 > 0:30:39acetylcholine, which carries the signal across the synapse
0:30:39 > 0:30:41to the brain, saying "pain".
0:30:41 > 0:30:43And then your body produces an enzyme called
0:30:43 > 0:30:47acetylcholinesterase and switches the whole thing off,
0:30:47 > 0:30:50stopping it continuously firing.
0:30:50 > 0:30:53What sarin and other nerve agents do is
0:30:53 > 0:30:58they prevent the enzyme from breaking down the neurotransmitter.
0:30:58 > 0:31:01And your nerves are just switched on all the time.
0:31:01 > 0:31:03The result is complete and utter chaos.
0:31:03 > 0:31:07You can't breathe properly because you can't control your in
0:31:07 > 0:31:09and your out and you asphyxiate.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12You lose control of your bowels, you lose control of your bladder,
0:31:12 > 0:31:16you basically urinate, you defecate, and you die very, very badly.
0:31:21 > 0:31:25One Porton official once described the one moment where we had been
0:31:25 > 0:31:29found with our trousers down and that was nerve gas.
0:31:29 > 0:31:35They had not anticipated this type of agent. It was extremely toxic.
0:31:35 > 0:31:37It was fast acting.
0:31:37 > 0:31:40And it was able to be used in different types of environment,
0:31:40 > 0:31:44from ground contamination through to inhalation.
0:31:44 > 0:31:47So it had multiple ways of being applied in combat.
0:31:48 > 0:31:52'Muscles go into uncontrollable spasm.
0:31:52 > 0:31:55'Breathing is paralysed and death follows.'
0:31:59 > 0:32:03Close down Porton Down! Close it down!
0:32:03 > 0:32:09Animal testing has always been a key part of the work at Porton Down
0:32:09 > 0:32:12and a matter of increasing public concern.
0:32:12 > 0:32:14Animal research.
0:32:14 > 0:32:17- Clearly, a lot of animals have passed through Porton Down.- Yeah.
0:32:17 > 0:32:20What are your thoughts about it?
0:32:20 > 0:32:24I would start by saying that we use animals in experiments for a purpose
0:32:24 > 0:32:28and that is to give our armed forces the protection that they need.
0:32:28 > 0:32:30We do it in a very regulated environment,
0:32:30 > 0:32:32so we are regulated under the relevant legislation
0:32:32 > 0:32:37that has been passed by parliament and we are regulated by Home Office inspectors who have their own
0:32:37 > 0:32:40passes and can come here at any time,
0:32:40 > 0:32:43as they do, to examine the welfare of our animals and what we do.
0:32:43 > 0:32:47And lastly, we've done a lot in the last decade,
0:32:47 > 0:32:51under the three Rs - replacement, refinement,
0:32:51 > 0:32:55and reduction - to reduce the number of animals that we use.
0:33:01 > 0:33:05In the 1950s, sarin experiments on animals couldn't give
0:33:05 > 0:33:08Porton Down scientists all the answers they wanted.
0:33:13 > 0:33:16The pressures of the Cold War led to the
0:33:16 > 0:33:20intensification of a particularly controversial
0:33:20 > 0:33:24type of experiment - the use of chemical agents on human volunteers.
0:33:27 > 0:33:32At its height, they carried out over 500 human experiments a year.
0:33:35 > 0:33:37Then, in May 1953,
0:33:37 > 0:33:41something happened that cast a very long shadow over Porton Down.
0:33:41 > 0:33:44An RAF volunteer called Ronald Maddison took
0:33:44 > 0:33:47part in an experiment involving sarin.
0:33:48 > 0:33:51He went into the gas chamber.
0:33:51 > 0:33:55A little while later, he says he feels sick.
0:33:55 > 0:33:57He then collapses.
0:33:57 > 0:34:01They frantically try to revive him, but in fact,
0:34:01 > 0:34:05he had died at 11am that day, 45 minutes after going in to...
0:34:05 > 0:34:07After being tested with nerve gas.
0:34:07 > 0:34:12Maddison's death was a huge shock to people at Porton Down,
0:34:12 > 0:34:16but no-one was prepared to take responsibility.
0:34:16 > 0:34:18Instead, his cause of death was covered up.
0:34:21 > 0:34:24The death of Ronald Maddison was one of the biggest cover-ups
0:34:24 > 0:34:27of the Cold War.
0:34:27 > 0:34:31In that classic way of how British government works,
0:34:31 > 0:34:37this tragedy happened and the only thought that the government had was,
0:34:37 > 0:34:41let's hush it up, which they did do successfully for decades.
0:34:41 > 0:34:44One of the darkest periods in the history of Porton Down is
0:34:44 > 0:34:47the death of a young volunteer in 1953
0:34:47 > 0:34:50and it wasn't so much his death, as the fact that the
0:34:50 > 0:34:53events around it were kept secret for such a long time.
0:34:53 > 0:34:57Can you explain to me why it was considered necessary to do that?
0:34:57 > 0:35:02Well, as you say, that was the 1950s, a very long time ago, and the
0:35:02 > 0:35:06British government has acknowledged that things were not done well.
0:35:06 > 0:35:09Can you explain to me the thinking behind it? What were they thinking?
0:35:09 > 0:35:13- Do they think - we can just keep this thing buried for a very long time?- I can't answer for people of
0:35:13 > 0:35:17that time. All I can say is the British government has acknowledged that
0:35:17 > 0:35:20mistakes were made and all I can say is that the laboratory that I lead
0:35:20 > 0:35:25today operates to the very highest scientific and ethical standards.
0:35:25 > 0:35:28In 2004, and after 50 years of campaigning,
0:35:28 > 0:35:32Maddison's family finally got a new inquest.
0:35:32 > 0:35:36My family has never known the truth and why he had to die so young.
0:35:36 > 0:35:41We are grateful to the coroner for holding the inquest
0:35:41 > 0:35:45so that we can finally know the truth.
0:35:45 > 0:35:49The inquest declared that Ronald Maddison was unlawfully killed.
0:35:51 > 0:35:56But it took two more years for the MoD to accept the verdict.
0:35:57 > 0:36:00You understand that people are sometimes a bit
0:36:00 > 0:36:04cynical about claims of transparency, granted the history?
0:36:04 > 0:36:07- But it was a very long time ago.- OK.
0:36:07 > 0:36:09So you're saying it couldn't happen now?
0:36:09 > 0:36:11The standards we operate to are the very highest.
0:36:11 > 0:36:15We had lots of scrutiny and we certainly don't do any experiments
0:36:15 > 0:36:19of the character that led to that regrettable death in 1953.
0:36:27 > 0:36:32Ronald Maddison's death came just as the Cold War was intensifying.
0:36:33 > 0:36:38Porton Down accelerated their chemical weapons programme
0:36:38 > 0:36:40on an industrial scale.
0:36:41 > 0:36:47They developed a new nerve agent, up to 170 times more potent than sarin.
0:36:52 > 0:36:54Venomous agent X.
0:36:54 > 0:36:56VX.
0:36:59 > 0:37:03Now, it is a nerve agent that is far more powerful than sarin.
0:37:03 > 0:37:06Marcus is making some at the moment.
0:37:06 > 0:37:09For obvious reasons, we're not going to dwell on the process.
0:37:15 > 0:37:19Porton Down originally developed VX from an industrial pesticide,
0:37:19 > 0:37:25which was banned when chemists realised just how lethal it was.
0:37:26 > 0:37:30- What does VX do?- It's a nerve agent.
0:37:30 > 0:37:36It acts in exactly the same way as sarin, but it's incredibly toxic.
0:37:36 > 0:37:38Much more toxic than sarin.
0:37:38 > 0:37:42- Wow.- A pinhead drop on your skin would be enough to kill you.
0:37:46 > 0:37:48Why do you make it?
0:37:48 > 0:37:52We need to understand it and we need to be confident that all
0:37:52 > 0:37:55the equipment, the clothing, the detection gear,
0:37:55 > 0:38:01that our operators, soldiers, have got, works and is effective,
0:38:01 > 0:38:04should they ever, God forbid, come across something like this.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09Cos this part is far higher risk from the point of view
0:38:09 > 0:38:11of the agent coming out of containment.
0:38:11 > 0:38:14If we put these on, just in case, if we get it on ourselves,
0:38:14 > 0:38:17we can step straight into the shower in the corner and wash it off.
0:38:17 > 0:38:20OK. Into the shower, right.
0:38:20 > 0:38:24I guess that brings home the reality of how dangerous this stuff is.
0:38:28 > 0:38:32To distil crude VX, they use a vacuum to lower the boiling point.
0:38:35 > 0:38:39OK, can we clear the lab of everybody, except just Marcus
0:38:39 > 0:38:40and the assistant at the back.
0:38:45 > 0:38:48OK, so they're just applying the vacuum now.
0:38:48 > 0:38:52- And they've asked me to get out of there, just in case.- OK, ready?
0:38:52 > 0:38:54Sash is down.
0:38:55 > 0:38:56Because it's so dangerous,
0:38:56 > 0:39:00Marcus is only allowed to make a few millilitres.
0:39:03 > 0:39:04OK, good to go?
0:39:04 > 0:39:06That stuff is incredibly lethal.
0:39:18 > 0:39:20OK, I think we're good to go. OK.
0:39:23 > 0:39:25OK, so nothing exploded, I guess.
0:39:25 > 0:39:29Nothing exploded. It's got an incredibly high vacuum on it now.
0:39:29 > 0:39:32It's just starting to sort of come up.
0:39:32 > 0:39:34You can see this liquid condensing and sort of going up
0:39:34 > 0:39:36and going back down.
0:39:36 > 0:39:38- Can you see that?- I do. - That's the pure VX, coming up.
0:39:38 > 0:39:42So this stuff here, this is VX. How is it different to sarin?
0:39:42 > 0:39:46There's probably enough there to kill tens
0:39:46 > 0:39:49if not hundreds of thousands of people.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52- Blimey. It's that lethal?- Yeah.
0:39:52 > 0:39:54Tens to thousands of people. Right.
0:39:54 > 0:39:56It would be horrendous.
0:39:59 > 0:40:03Do you find any of this sort of scary?
0:40:03 > 0:40:08- Um... It's always in the back of your mind, how toxic it is.- Yes.
0:40:11 > 0:40:15VX is the most potent chemical weapon ever created.
0:40:15 > 0:40:19It would also be the last Porton Down would ever develop.
0:40:22 > 0:40:24And that's because by the end of the 1950s,
0:40:24 > 0:40:29the British government had decided to focus its limited
0:40:29 > 0:40:33resources on a very different weapon of mass destruction.
0:40:36 > 0:40:38EXPLOSION
0:40:40 > 0:40:43'Britain fires its first H bomb to join the United States
0:40:43 > 0:40:46'and Russia as ranking atomic powers.'
0:40:46 > 0:40:50The British thermonuclear bomb meant Porton Down's offensive
0:40:50 > 0:40:52weapons programmes were terminated.
0:40:54 > 0:40:57They didn't need another weapon of mass destruction,
0:40:57 > 0:41:00they didn't need and biological weapons.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03And the worry, I think, to some extent,
0:41:03 > 0:41:07was that it wasn't that they were not good weapons,
0:41:07 > 0:41:12militarily speaking, it was they didn't want chemical
0:41:12 > 0:41:16and biological weapons to become a poor man's nuclear weapon.
0:41:16 > 0:41:20'New work is undertaken on the development of munitions
0:41:20 > 0:41:22'for the spreading of diseases.
0:41:22 > 0:41:24'The research is limited to that necessary to enable
0:41:24 > 0:41:27'an effective means of defence to be devised.'
0:41:29 > 0:41:32But other nations didn't give up any of their chemical
0:41:32 > 0:41:35and biological weapons programmes.
0:41:35 > 0:41:38GUNFIRE AND EXPLOSIONS
0:41:38 > 0:41:42As the Cold War developed, Porton became concerned that the
0:41:42 > 0:41:46USSR might detonate a biological bomb over Britain.
0:41:49 > 0:41:53So, in secret, they sprayed aerosols over populated areas to try
0:41:53 > 0:41:56and understand the impact of such an attack.
0:41:56 > 0:41:58The public were never told,
0:41:58 > 0:42:02but the evidence suggests the aerosols were harmless.
0:42:02 > 0:42:08You'd have spraying out clouds that would then waft in over cities,
0:42:08 > 0:42:13inland, to see how biological weapons would travel,
0:42:13 > 0:42:16environmentally, with air currents, exposure to sunlight,
0:42:16 > 0:42:18all those things.
0:42:18 > 0:42:20'As the cloud drifted inland,
0:42:20 > 0:42:23'it was sampled by mobile sampling stations.'
0:42:23 > 0:42:27What Porton would says is that what they were spraying was
0:42:27 > 0:42:29completely harmless,
0:42:29 > 0:42:35but again, this was a programme that happened in complete secrecy
0:42:35 > 0:42:40and what Porton would argue was - of course we had to keep it secret
0:42:40 > 0:42:44because we didn't want to tell the Russians what we were doing.
0:42:47 > 0:42:51Thankfully, the Cold War ended without chemical or
0:42:51 > 0:42:53biological weapons being used in anger.
0:42:57 > 0:43:00But then, a new war began in the Middle East.
0:43:08 > 0:43:111988, Halabja, Iraq.
0:43:13 > 0:43:16Saddam Hussein did what even Hitler wouldn't dare.
0:43:20 > 0:43:22He unleashed sarin.
0:43:23 > 0:43:27For the first time in history, a nerve agent was used in warfare.
0:43:29 > 0:43:33'These are some of the 5,000 people killed by Iraqi gas
0:43:33 > 0:43:36'attacks in and near the town of Halabja.
0:43:36 > 0:43:39'The children look asleep on the grass.'
0:43:41 > 0:43:42During the 1980s,
0:43:42 > 0:43:45I was actually working on the current affairs programme
0:43:45 > 0:43:49Newsnight and I used to sit in the basement watching some really,
0:43:49 > 0:43:52really horrible footage from the Iran-Iraq War,
0:43:52 > 0:43:55the sort of things we could never transmit.
0:43:55 > 0:43:57I still remember it clearly.
0:43:57 > 0:44:01There were so many dead people, so many dead children,
0:44:01 > 0:44:05who had been killed horribly by a chemical weapon.
0:44:05 > 0:44:08It's very disturbing, looking at these dead bodies,
0:44:08 > 0:44:10because they look almost as if they're asleep,
0:44:10 > 0:44:13but you know they actually died very, very badly.
0:44:21 > 0:44:25Saddam Hussein had left the Geneva Protocol in tatters.
0:44:28 > 0:44:33In response, the UN instigated a ban on all chemical weapons,
0:44:33 > 0:44:36production, stockpiles, and use.
0:44:38 > 0:44:40To ensure the world complied,
0:44:40 > 0:44:44they created the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons.
0:44:54 > 0:44:58The OPCW's role is to inspect and police all sites where chemical
0:44:58 > 0:45:02agents are present and that, of course, includes Porton Down.
0:45:03 > 0:45:05We're going to check the X-ray records.
0:45:05 > 0:45:11Unlike us, they can see whatever they want, anywhere, anytime.
0:45:19 > 0:45:21Morning.
0:45:21 > 0:45:25The inspection begins where the old chemical weapons are stored.
0:45:25 > 0:45:28First, we'll check the new findings, since last inspections.
0:45:28 > 0:45:33What we're doing today is actually verifying the declaration that's
0:45:33 > 0:45:38been made and we're doing that through a physical inventory check.
0:45:38 > 0:45:40And a record check.
0:45:40 > 0:45:428648.
0:45:42 > 0:45:458648, the big one.
0:45:45 > 0:45:47Yeah, perfect.
0:45:47 > 0:45:50I just want to check a few random ones.
0:45:52 > 0:45:55It would be politically embarrassing for the UK to actually fail
0:45:55 > 0:45:57a CWC inspection.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00We have to ensure that all the information that we give
0:46:00 > 0:46:04and the information that is verified by the OPCW is 100% accurate.
0:46:05 > 0:46:08I can see there, look.
0:46:08 > 0:46:10Yes. Standard mortar.
0:46:10 > 0:46:1225 pounder.
0:46:12 > 0:46:148741. Perfect.
0:46:16 > 0:46:19So far, so good. Everything's checking out so far. Yes.
0:46:22 > 0:46:25Next, we would like to inspect inside.
0:46:25 > 0:46:28- Yes. - Nothing is off limits to the OPCW.
0:46:29 > 0:46:34We are about now to go to our incinerator site.
0:46:34 > 0:46:36We declare that we incinerate the agent
0:46:36 > 0:46:40when it comes out of the munitions and so they are just checking,
0:46:40 > 0:46:43essentially, that is what we've done.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46These are the OPCW guys.
0:46:46 > 0:46:51Looking at the incineration records from the HS area,
0:46:51 > 0:46:55so to prove that you've incinerated what we've sent down.
0:46:55 > 0:46:58- 8054, isn't it?- 8054.
0:46:58 > 0:47:01The UN strictly controls the amount of chemical agents
0:47:01 > 0:47:05that can be manufactured or stockpiled in places like this.
0:47:05 > 0:47:08We will show you what they look like when they come out.
0:47:08 > 0:47:11Their inspectors also try to ensure that none can be
0:47:11 > 0:47:13used for offensive purposes.
0:47:13 > 0:47:16But not every country complies.
0:47:16 > 0:47:20And terrorists, of course, are a law unto themselves.
0:47:20 > 0:47:25OK, as you can see here, this is the end product, post-incineration.
0:47:25 > 0:47:28If I can take an example of one piece here,
0:47:28 > 0:47:31this is...well, was a 25-pounder shell.
0:47:31 > 0:47:36- The residue agent will have all burnt off post 800 degrees.- Yup.
0:47:36 > 0:47:37Everything they've wanted to check,
0:47:37 > 0:47:41we've been able to supply the right information and the right
0:47:41 > 0:47:45paperwork and they've seen the ammunition and by getting
0:47:45 > 0:47:48a good report at the end of it shows that we're doing our jobs well.
0:47:54 > 0:47:56Now, ideally, this would be the end of the story.
0:47:56 > 0:48:00Chemical weapons being destroyed, the world saved.
0:48:00 > 0:48:03Unfortunately, that is not what is happening.
0:48:03 > 0:48:06If anything, chemical weapons are on the rise.
0:48:06 > 0:48:09In fact, more are being used now than at any time
0:48:09 > 0:48:11since the First World War.
0:48:16 > 0:48:19The rise began with the number of chemical
0:48:19 > 0:48:23and biological attacks by individuals and small groups.
0:48:23 > 0:48:25'These people had been making their way to work
0:48:25 > 0:48:28'when the nerve gas began to seep into the air.'
0:48:29 > 0:48:33Japan, 13 civilians died after an attack on a subway.
0:48:33 > 0:48:37The United States, a series of anthrax letters killed five people.
0:48:41 > 0:48:44But in 2013, an attack in Syria killed hundreds.
0:48:47 > 0:48:50'Something terrible has happened in a Damascus suburb.
0:48:50 > 0:48:53'It has all the signs of a massive chemical attack.'
0:48:55 > 0:48:59Nothing on this scale had been seen since Halabja.
0:49:03 > 0:49:06And as the leading chemical weapons
0:49:06 > 0:49:09laboratory in the world, samples came to Porton Down.
0:49:12 > 0:49:14Hi, there.
0:49:16 > 0:49:20In their secret forensic laboratory, Cerys was the scientist who
0:49:20 > 0:49:24had to establish what chemical agent had killed so many people.
0:49:26 > 0:49:29OK, so describe to me the sequence of events.
0:49:29 > 0:49:32So, some of the first samples we received were blood, hair,
0:49:32 > 0:49:35- and urine. - Did you know where it had come from?
0:49:35 > 0:49:38We knew it had come from a person who thought that they'd been
0:49:38 > 0:49:41exposed to some kind of chemical.
0:49:41 > 0:49:45- OK.- At that time, it wasn't clear what the chemical was.
0:49:45 > 0:49:49So all of the samples were extracted by different means.
0:49:49 > 0:49:53Got the first results within probably eight or ten hours.
0:49:53 > 0:49:57And then the confirmatory results across all the samples within
0:49:57 > 0:49:59the next 24 hours.
0:50:00 > 0:50:04The chemical agent that killed up to 1,500 men,
0:50:04 > 0:50:09women and children in Damascus was the nerve agent sarin.
0:50:09 > 0:50:11When you get the first results,
0:50:11 > 0:50:16do you call everyone else in to go - look, we've found something?
0:50:16 > 0:50:19With the very first set of samples, where it was the first time
0:50:19 > 0:50:22that we'd seen evidence of sarin exposure, we did.
0:50:22 > 0:50:24We kind of stood in front of the instruments,
0:50:24 > 0:50:26scratching our heads, because none of us
0:50:26 > 0:50:30had really expected to find a positive at that point.
0:50:30 > 0:50:31Had you searched before?
0:50:31 > 0:50:34No, it was the first set of samples that we'd
0:50:34 > 0:50:37had from the incidents in Syria.
0:50:39 > 0:50:41Samples in the Porton Down laboratory shows
0:50:41 > 0:50:45the use of chemical weapons in that Damascus suburb.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48Blood and hair tested positive for sarin.
0:50:48 > 0:50:52The scale of the attack caused international outrage.
0:50:52 > 0:50:55And the finger of blame seemed to point at the Syrian regime.
0:50:59 > 0:51:01Military action soon followed.
0:51:01 > 0:51:05If we fail to act, other tyrants will have no reason to think
0:51:05 > 0:51:09twice about acquiring poison gas and using them.
0:51:09 > 0:51:11And it could be easier for terrorist
0:51:11 > 0:51:14organisations to obtain these weapons.
0:51:18 > 0:51:23The war on terror has changed and broadened Porton Down's remit.
0:51:25 > 0:51:29What was once solely a chemical and biological weapon facility
0:51:29 > 0:51:32now focuses on all areas of modern warfare.
0:51:34 > 0:51:39Developing battlefield equipment based on quantum physics.
0:51:39 > 0:51:42Advanced ballistics protection.
0:51:44 > 0:51:47You can get a measure here of the depth into flesh there.
0:51:49 > 0:51:53And blast physics to protect troop carriers from IEDs.
0:51:53 > 0:51:57- EXPLOSION - The sheer magnitudes of the pressures that we're seeing,
0:51:57 > 0:52:00how that then interacts with an armoured vehicle, would allow me
0:52:00 > 0:52:04to design something that's better, stronger, in the future.
0:52:04 > 0:52:06We've continued to work in countering
0:52:06 > 0:52:09the threat of chemical weapons and then biological weapons,
0:52:09 > 0:52:12but today, we're about so much more than that.
0:52:12 > 0:52:14It's about countering the threat to our armed forces,
0:52:14 > 0:52:17however that is posed. Whether that is bullets, whether that's missiles,
0:52:17 > 0:52:20whether that's improvised explosive devices,
0:52:20 > 0:52:24it's about providing our armed forces with that protection.
0:52:31 > 0:52:33An unlikely recruit in the search
0:52:33 > 0:52:36for a protection is the orb web spider.
0:52:39 > 0:52:43Her silk is being harvested to help scientists counter a new threat.
0:52:47 > 0:52:50That one of the deadliest diseases known to man could be
0:52:50 > 0:52:53used as a weapon.
0:52:53 > 0:52:57So, once the spider's spun its web over the frames, then it
0:52:57 > 0:53:01goes into this piece of equipment, which is called sow.
0:53:01 > 0:53:04And it's basically how we expose it to the virus.
0:53:04 > 0:53:07You can see there's a very narrow gap.
0:53:07 > 0:53:11- So you spray some virus in here? - Spray the virus, bacteria, whatever you want to spray.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14The aerosol passes over the frames and as the spider's web would
0:53:14 > 0:53:18capture dew in the morning, it will capture the aerosol particles,
0:53:18 > 0:53:22which will have viruses or bacteria, and we can count what's in there.
0:53:26 > 0:53:29The virus Porton Down are using causes one of the most
0:53:29 > 0:53:32contagious diseases in the world.
0:53:34 > 0:53:38Two years ago, in West Africa, it killed over 10,000 people.
0:53:41 > 0:53:42It is Ebola.
0:53:44 > 0:53:47You will be familiar with the Ebola outbreak in Sierra Leone.
0:53:47 > 0:53:50Of course, when something like that happens,
0:53:50 > 0:53:55it causes questions to be asked of - here's a pathological agent,
0:53:55 > 0:54:00could it be used by our adversaries, whether states or terrorists,
0:54:00 > 0:54:04to threaten our armed forces or the British people?
0:54:04 > 0:54:07To explore this potential threat,
0:54:07 > 0:54:10Porton Down are spraying Ebola across spiders'
0:54:10 > 0:54:14webs to discover just how long it remains contagious in air.
0:54:17 > 0:54:19Stephen leads the experiment.
0:54:22 > 0:54:26Why do you want to know how long these viruses will survive?
0:54:26 > 0:54:31Well, the main purpose is to be able to add to that broad basis
0:54:31 > 0:54:34of knowledge on how to control these viruses.
0:54:34 > 0:54:37If they should get released, we have some sort of basic
0:54:37 > 0:54:40understanding of how they may well transmit.
0:54:40 > 0:54:44So it's adding to that broad basis of knowledge that we can then
0:54:44 > 0:54:48add to other experiments that we do here.
0:54:48 > 0:54:50Now, Ebola is a particularly dangerous virus,
0:54:50 > 0:54:54so they don't want to run any risks at all that it might escape.
0:54:54 > 0:54:58That's why we're in what's called a cat four laboratory.
0:54:58 > 0:55:00This is as secure as it is possible to get.
0:55:02 > 0:55:05So far at Porton Down, I've been allowed alongside all
0:55:05 > 0:55:10the lethal chemical agents, but this time, I can't even get in the room.
0:55:12 > 0:55:16So they're just in there, wearing their wonderful space age suits.
0:55:16 > 0:55:21And very soon now, they're going to release the cloud of Ebola viruses.
0:55:21 > 0:55:25Now, I can hear what they're saying through this earpiece.
0:55:25 > 0:55:27I can, if necessary, talk to them.
0:55:27 > 0:55:30And I can see, via this camera, what they're up to.
0:55:30 > 0:55:33Hi there. How are you doing?
0:55:33 > 0:55:37Hello, yeah. We're loading up the frames with the spiders'
0:55:37 > 0:55:40webs on into the sow now, ready for us to turn
0:55:40 > 0:55:44on the aerosolization kit and then expose the spiders' webs to Ebola.
0:55:46 > 0:55:47Right, we're ready to go now.
0:55:47 > 0:55:49Fantastic.
0:55:49 > 0:55:51Do you ever get nervous at this point?
0:55:53 > 0:55:57A little bit apprehensive, but no, we're OK. We're good to go now.
0:55:57 > 0:55:59OK.
0:55:59 > 0:56:01Right.
0:56:01 > 0:56:02'OK.'
0:56:02 > 0:56:04All in.
0:56:04 > 0:56:10OK, we're going to start spraying virus in three, two, one, spray.
0:56:10 > 0:56:13So, hopefully, what you can see there is the aerosol
0:56:13 > 0:56:16nebuliser aerosolizing the Ebola virus.
0:56:16 > 0:56:20And it's travelling down this pipe here, along these pipes
0:56:20 > 0:56:23and is passing by the spiders' webs, through this sow,
0:56:23 > 0:56:26and then back around and circulating round the machine and back out.
0:56:26 > 0:56:29- 20 seconds left.- There have been incidences in history,
0:56:29 > 0:56:32for example the anthrax outbreak in Washington DC,
0:56:32 > 0:56:37where terrorists used a pathogen to threaten a civilian population.
0:56:37 > 0:56:42So, of course, we look at not just how to defend our armed forces,
0:56:42 > 0:56:44we look at - how could this be used by an adversary?
0:56:46 > 0:56:49Three, two, one.
0:56:49 > 0:56:52That's stopped the sampling now.
0:56:53 > 0:56:55After 19 minutes,
0:56:55 > 0:57:01more than 30% of the aerosolized Ebola still remains viable.
0:57:01 > 0:57:04Unfortunately, the experiment proves it could be
0:57:04 > 0:57:07effective as a potential weapon.
0:57:07 > 0:57:11Today, it's Ebola. It may well be another virus tomorrow.
0:57:11 > 0:57:14So, there's always going to be emerging diseases coming through.
0:57:14 > 0:57:16Primarily, they are going to be viruses.
0:57:16 > 0:57:19Which is why we've got this capability here to be able
0:57:19 > 0:57:21to do that sort of work.
0:57:21 > 0:57:23That's the work that we study
0:57:23 > 0:57:26and I would hope the British people would recognise that's a good
0:57:26 > 0:57:29thing to do, as we think about their safety and the safety of our
0:57:29 > 0:57:33armed forces, given that these threats are out there in the world.
0:57:36 > 0:57:40Looking forwards and responding to new threats is ultimately
0:57:40 > 0:57:43what Porton Down's scientists have done for 100 years.
0:57:44 > 0:57:48Over that time, they have developed weapons of mass destruction...
0:57:49 > 0:57:53A pinhead drop on your skin would be enough to kill you.
0:57:53 > 0:57:56..using controversial methods...
0:57:56 > 0:57:58Close down Porton Down.
0:57:58 > 0:58:02..and at times, they have hidden the truth.
0:58:02 > 0:58:05The only thought that the government had was - let's hush it up.
0:58:07 > 0:58:10Porton Down is a place of contradictions.
0:58:10 > 0:58:14It's a secret institution who are trying to be more open.
0:58:14 > 0:58:15They were born in war,
0:58:15 > 0:58:18but they see their primary purpose now as defensive.
0:58:18 > 0:58:21They have had their dark moments,
0:58:21 > 0:58:23but they have also saved a lot of lives.
0:58:23 > 0:58:27And I have no doubt that the UK would be a much more
0:58:27 > 0:58:29vulnerable place without them.