Finnish Defence Forces destroy 187 tonnes of explosives in Lapland

The Finnish Defence Forces will destroy 187 tonnes of outdated explosives at Hukkakero, a remote blast area in Kittilä, during August, Yle reports. The explosive content is equivalent to that of about 600 cruise missiles.

Eighteen tractor-trailer trucks are transporting the material across Finland. Their routes and schedules are classified because the trucks are carrying a total of 187 tonnes of explosives.

Hukkakero covers 27,000 hectares and is the only place in Finland where detonations on this scale can currently be carried out, according to Lieutenant Colonel Leo Salmela, who leads the operation. The area has no buildings or forest near the blast zone, but it has roads needed for transport.

The Defence Forces destroy hundreds of tonnes of explosives that have been withdrawn from use or reached the end of their service life at Hukkakero every year. Mass detonation camps have been held at the same location since 1988, almost annually.

During the war in Ukraine, some camps were not held because usable material was donated to Ukraine. This year, the site will dispose of 360 tonnes of explosive material, of which 187 tonnes is actual explosive.

No more than 30 tonnes of explosives may be detonated at one time. That quantity contains roughly the same amount of explosive as 3,000 anti-tank mines.

The detonations are planned in detail in advance, including the distance fragments may travel, the possible pressure wave and the spread of smoke. Planning the charges alone took the entire previous year.

The material being destroyed includes ammunition for light mortars, as well as grenades that are about 40 years old. Workers carry the explosives by hand to a carefully designed charge, while the detonation is triggered from a protected bunker about 700 metres away.

Fourteen permanent Defence Forces employees work as explosives handlers at the camp. They volunteer for the assignment, and no conscripts take part because of the risks. The handlers’ fitness is tested annually before the camp begins.

The need to destroy ageing explosives is linked to a previous accident at the Defence Forces’ Uudenkylä arsenal in Nastola, where an explosion killed four people and injured 69. The blast destroyed forest across an area of several dozen hectares, while buildings hundreds of metres away were almost completely destroyed.