Destruction of the deadly nerve agent VX will resume today, more than two months after being halted by two minor spills and a discovery that the VX byproduct was far more flammable than originally thought.

More than 250,000 gallons of VX -- one of the deadliest substances known -- are being destroyed at the Newport Chemical Depot in western Indiana, the only place it was made in the United States.

Workers this week underwent a demonstration of safe operations, required before restarting the process. Destruction will start slowly, to allow laboratory analysis of data, just as it did when the process originally began May 5, Army officials said Thursday in a prepared statement.

The Army determined that a chemical created by destruction -- achieved by mixing VX with hot sodium hydroxide and water in a reactor -- increased the byproduct's flammability. Lowering the reactor temperature after an hour, officials said, will reduce the amount of that chemical.

Call Star reporter Tammy Webber at (317) 444-6412.