This glossary defines the terms used in UXO clearance, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) and mine action, with their French equivalents (MNE, REG, NEDEX, ESP). It is maintained by DEMINETEC; see also the French glossary.
Contents: Ordnance categories · Operations · Detection and survey · Standards and French regulation
Ordnance categories
Terms used in mine action, EOD and construction-related UXO clearance, with their French equivalents.
Unexploded ordnance (UXO)
Explosive ordnance that has been primed, fuzed, armed or otherwise prepared for use, fired, dropped, launched or projected, and has failed to explode. French: munition non explosée (MNE). See unexploded ordnance.
Abandoned explosive ordnance (AXO)
Explosive ordnance not used during a conflict, left behind or dumped and no longer under the control of the party that held it.
Explosive remnants of war (ERW)
UXO and AXO, as defined by Protocol V (2003) to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons; mines are excluded. French: restes explosifs de guerre (REG).
Explosive ordnance (EO)
Generic mine action term covering mines, cluster munitions, UXO, AXO, booby traps and other explosive devices.
MNE (munition non explosée)
French term for UXO.
REG (restes explosifs de guerre)
French term for ERW.
Landmine
Munition designed to be placed under, on or near the ground and exploded by the presence, proximity or contact of a person (anti-personnel) or a vehicle (anti-vehicle). See mine clearance.
Submunition
Explosive submunition dispersed by a cluster munition; such items have high failure rates and are covered by the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions.
Improvised explosive device (IED)
Device fabricated in an improvised manner incorporating explosives; outside the scope of conventional ordnance.
Chemical munition
Munition filled with a toxic agent (sulphur mustard, phosgene, arsenicals); its discovery triggers a specific procedure.
Sea mine
Mine laid in the sea or a channel against ships: moored, ground or influence mines. Underwater items are handled by SEMTEC.
Fuze
Device that initiates the ordnance (impact, time, delay, proximity). Its type and condition determine whether the item may be moved.
Operations
Explosive ordnance disposal (EOD)
Detection, identification, evaluation, render-safe, recovery and final disposal of explosive ordnance. French military equivalent: NEDEX.
Mine action
IMAS framework comprising survey and clearance, explosive ordnance risk education, victim assistance, stockpile destruction and advocacy.
Humanitarian demining
Survey and clearance carried out to return land to communities under a national mine action authority.
Commercial demining
Survey and clearance of land, routes or sites so that a specific project can be built and operated safely.
Land release
Process of cancelling, reducing or clearing suspected and confirmed hazardous areas on the basis of evidence.
Non-technical survey (NTS)
Collection and analysis of information without physical intervention in hazardous areas.
Technical survey (TS)
Physical intervention to confirm the presence, type and limits of contamination.
Battle area clearance (BAC)
Systematic clearance of UXO and AXO in former combat areas where mines are not expected.
UXO risk assessment / desk study
Documentary study of a site's military history producing a zoning of the UXO hazard by area and depth. French: étude historique et technique (EHT).
EOD watching brief
Presence of EOD specialists during earthworks, dredging or drilling in areas with residual risk.
Render safe procedure (RSP)
Technique applied to interrupt the functioning of an item of ordnance.
Demolition in situ
Destruction of an item where it lies by a donor charge, with protective works and safety distances.
Clearance certificate
Document stating the areas and depths cleared, the method used and the items found.
Detection and survey
UXO survey
Geophysical survey of a site to locate potential UXO: magnetometry, electromagnetic induction, borehole magnetometry, followed by target investigation. See UXO survey and detection.
Magnetometry
Measurement of distortions of the Earth's magnetic field caused by ferrous objects; reference method for UXO detection.
Fluxgate gradiometer
Vector magnetic sensor pair measuring the field difference, used for surface and borehole UXO detection.
Caesium vapour magnetometer
High-sensitivity optically pumped scalar magnetometer used on land, airborne and marine surveys.
Electromagnetic induction (EMI / TDEM)
Detection of ferrous and non-ferrous metal by its response to a transmitted electromagnetic field.
Borehole magnetometry
Detection of deep ferrous targets, such as aircraft bombs, by a magnetometer probe lowered in non-magnetic casing ahead of piles or deep foundations.
Anomaly / target
Measured signal departing from the background that may correspond to UXO or metallic debris; each retained target is located, characterised and investigated.
Standards and French regulation
IMAS
International Mine Action Standards, the common reference for mine action, transposed into national standards.
IATG
International Ammunition Technical Guidelines for the safe and secure management of ammunition stockpiles.
Protocol V (CCW)
2003 Protocol on Explosive Remnants of War to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons.
Ottawa Convention
1997 Convention prohibiting the use, stockpiling, production and transfer of anti-personnel mines.
Decree 2005-1325 (France)
French decree, as amended, on safety rules for works carried out on a UXO clearance site, requiring a pyrotechnic safety study (ESP).
ESP (étude de sécurité pyrotechnique)
Pyrotechnic safety study prepared under the clearance contractor's responsibility and submitted by the project owner to the DREETS before clearance works in France.
NEDEX
Neutralisation, enlèvement et destruction des explosifs: French military EOD specialities.