Army chemical destruction

The NRC s Board on Army Science and Technology is involved in studies of the destruction of stockpile and nonstockpile chemical munitions. The Committee on Review and Evaluation of the Army Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program and the Committee on Review and Evaluation of the Army Chemical Non-Stockpile Materiel Disposal Program are reviewing the technical aspects of the Army s disposal methods on an ongoing basis (see NRC 1999a, b). 

PMACWA. 2007a. Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board - December 2007. Available online at http //www.pmacwa.army.mil/ky/ ip/dl/acwa cdcab mailing roster.pdf. Last accessed June 3, 2008. 

The US pursuit of alternative destruction technologies is conducted by the US Army Chemical Materials Agency s Alternative Technologies and Approaches Project (ATAP), see http //www.cma.army.mil/atap.aspx, last accessed 6 September 2005. 

The U.S. Army Chemical Demilitarization and Remediation Activity is responsible for implementing the destruction of all U.S. chemical warfare-related material, including the chemical weapons stockpile and nonstockpile chemical material, and for insuring maximum protection to the environment, general public, and personnel involved in the destruction. The activity s office of Program Manager for Nonstockpile Chemical Material is responsible for ... 

The Technical Escort Unit, the Army Chemical and Biological Defense Agency, is responsible for the escort of nonstockpile chemical material, emergency destruction of chemical munitions, and emergency response to chemical agent incidents. 

The U.S. Army Chemical Materiel Destruction Agency was established to consolidate operational responsibility for the destruction of chemical warfare capabilities into one office. 

A publication entitled Non-Stockpile Chemical Material Program-Interim Survey and Analysis Report by the U.S. Army Chemical Material Destruction Agency, April 1993, states. 

USACMDA (1993a) Interim survey and analysis report. Program Manager for Non-Stockpile Chemical Materiel, Nonstockpile Chemical Materiel Program, U.S. Department of the Army, Chemical Materiel Destruction Agency, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD. 

Prior to 1991, efforts to dispose of CWM were limited to stoclq)ile materiel. A part of the 1991 Defense Appropriations Act (House Appropriations Report 101-822) directed the Secretary of Defense to establish an office with the responsibility of destroying nonstockpile materiel. The program manager for NSCMP was assigned this task under the newly established U.S. Army Chemical Materiel Destruction Agency (NRC, 1999a). 

Environmentally safe destruction of obsolete chemical weapons must be performed In facilities which assure total containment of blast effects and toxic gas In the event of an accidental detonation. Functional process requirements and recommended structural design procedures for containment rooms to accomplish this purpose are presented. The requirements presented are consistent with Department of the Army and Department of Defense Explosive Safety Board requirements. 

The Army terminology for destruction of obsolete weapons Is "demilitarization". This term encompasses all the steps required to disassemble and safely destroy or decontaminate the component materials of which the munition was constructed. National Academy of Sciences and Department of the Army Guidance for demilitarization of obsolete chemical weapons (t) requires absolute safety and security, assurance of total containment of agent during processing, maximum protection of operating personnel and Incontrovertible evidence verifying the destruction of the toxic wastes. 

In 1996, persuaded by the public opposition in Lexington, Kentucky, and Pueblo, Colorado, Congress enacted Public Law 104-201, which instructed the Department of Defense (DoD) to conduct an assessment of the chemical demilitarization program for destruction of assembled chemical munitions and of the alternative demilitarization technologies and processes (other than incineration) that could be used for the destruction of the lethal chemical agents that are associated with these munitions. The Army established a... 

The U.S. Army is in the process of destroying the country s stockpile of aging chemical weapons, stored at eight locations in the continental United States and on Johnston Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. The deadline for completing the destruction of these weapons, as specified by the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) international treaty, is April 29, 2007. Originally, the Army selected incineration as the preferred baseline destruction technology, and it currently operates two incineration facilities—one on Johnston Atoll and one at the Deseret Chemical Depot near Tooele, Utah. The Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System (JACADS) completed destruction of the stockpile on Johnston Island in late 2000, and closure of the... 

The Army plans to leave Johnston Island following completion of the destruction of the chemical stockpile. To complete the closure of JACADS, the Army must demonstrate to EPA that its portion of the island is acceptable for future use (whatever that use is determined to be). Other parts of Johnston Island will require cleanup by appropriate government agencies to address contamination by non-JACADS wastes. These include plutonium, Agent Orange,... 

Under joint sponsorship by the U. S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) and the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE), a bench-scale transpiring wall reactor was developed by Sandia National Laboratories, FWDC, and GenCorp Aerojet. The reactor, which uses SCWO, was designed to treat military and other liquid wastes. A commercial application of the technology is in use to destroy munitions, colored smokes, and dyes. SWCO may also provide a viable alternative to incineration for the destruction of chemical weapons. 

---