National Smelting Company facts for kids

The National Smelting Company was a large company in Avonmouth, England. It was started during World War I by Winston Churchill, who was a government minister. Its main job was to make zinc and a secret chemical called mustard gas.

After the war, private companies bought it. From 1929, it became part of an Australian company called Imperial Smelting Corporation. This place, also known as the Britannia smelting works, was where a special way to melt zinc, called the Imperial Smelting Process, was invented. From 1967, the Avonmouth Works had the biggest and best zinc furnace in the world.

The company kept working until 2003. Then, it stopped making zinc, cadmium, lead, and sulphuric acid.

Now, the old site is being changed into a huge distribution center for the Asda supermarket. It is also becoming a recycling plant for SITA UK.

Why the Company Started

During the later part of World War I, there was a plan to make Avonmouth Docks the main place in the UK for making dichloroethyl sulphide. This chemical is better known as mustard gas.

However, making and using mustard gas went against international rules from the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907. These rules said that using "poison or poisoned weapons" in war was forbidden. So, to keep it a secret, the Ministry of Munitions, led by Winston Churchill, took over many small metal-melting companies. They combined them into the new National Smelting Company (NSC).

Before World War I, much of Britain's zinc came from Australia but was melted in Germany. The NSC was publicly told to build a new zinc melting factory and a sulphuric acid plant at Merebank, in Avonmouth Docks. This was a cover for its secret mustard gas work.

Making Mustard Gas

A nearby factory, called No.23 filling factory at Chittening, was already filling shells with another chemical called chloropicrin. This factory was run by Nobel Explosives (now AkzoNobel).

Building the chemical plant for mustard gas started in 1917. It cost £800,000, which was a lot of money back then. The plant began working in the spring of 1918. It made about 20 tonnes of dichloroethyl sulphide each day. This was done using a method called the Despretz–Niemann–Guthrie process.

The chemical was then sent to the main shell-filling factory at Banbury. Some also went to smaller sites at Chittening and Hereford. The first mustard gas shells arrived in France in September 1918. This was only two months before the end of the war. However, the gas was used that same month during a big battle called the breaking of the Hindenburg Line. By November 1918, the Chittening factory had made 85,424 mustard gas shells.

Making mustard gas was very dangerous for the workers. In December 1918, a doctor at the chemical plant reported that in six months, 1,400 illnesses were reported by its 1,100 workers. Most of these workers were women. All these illnesses were linked to their work. Three people died from accidents, and four died from related sicknesses. There were also 160 accidents that caused over 1,000 burns. At the Chittening factory, 1,213 cases of related illness were reported. This included two deaths, which were later thought to be from influenza.

Company History and Operations

After World War I, there was much less demand for zinc and sulphuric acid. The National Smelting Company faced money problems. A group of British business people, who were interested in metals and chemicals, took over the company. They managed to make it successful again under the new name Commonwealth Smelting Company. In 1929, Australia's Imperial Smelting Corporation bought the NSC. In 1949, this company joined with Zinc Corporation to become Consolidated Zinc.

During these changes, smaller NSC factories were closed. Production was focused on the Avonmouth site, which was now called the Britannia smelting works. This was where the Imperial Smelting Process was developed. From 1967, the Avonmouth Works had the largest and most efficient zinc blast furnace in the world.

Consolidated Zinc later joined with the Rio Tinto Company, a mining company, in 1962. The new company was called The Rio Tinto – Zinc Corporation (RTZ). Its main part in Australia was Conzinc Riotinto of Australia (CRA). These companies eventually became today's Rio Tinto.

Over time, it became cheaper to melt metals in other parts of the world. Because of this, the Avonmouth site stopped making products in the 1990s. However, it stayed open as a place to store and send out products until 2003.

Redeveloping the Site

In 2012, SITA UK began to redevelop the old factory site. But construction workers started showing symptoms like those caused by mustard gas. So, the Ministry of Defence was called in to test and approve the site.

Even after the Ministry of Defence said the site was safe, construction workers found a mustard gas shell a few months later. The shell was safely removed by the 11 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Regiment RLC and taken to Porton Down for disposal.

The site was then closed for a whole year. Experts from the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory did many tests to make sure it was safe. In late 2013, the Ministry of Defence finally gave full clearance. This allowed the site to be redeveloped. It is now becoming a large distribution center for Asda supermarkets and a recycling plant for SITA UK.

See also

• William Champion (metallurgist)