Other Munitions

Most of the research accomplished to date on source flux rates has been directed toward landmines. This is generally because global publicity has focused attention, and hence funding, on them. Other ERWs are acknowledged, but similar measurements are more limited. We can recognize that many of the same processes will be operative. However, since landmines are intended to be placed, most often, by hand, they can be manufactured effectively from various polymer materials, rather than steel. 

Munitions that are designed to be dynamically placed, such as bombs, mortar rounds, or artillery shells, must naturally have stronger, usually steel, cases. These munitions, when they appear either as duds or as abandoned UXO, will have no significant diffusion, except through seals or o-rings. This diffusion should be expected to be considerably less than that available from mines. Duds often have case damage that can provide leak paths for the molecules. Naturally, this is not quantifiable in any predictive way. 

The other munition type of major interest, IEDs, are usually assembled a short while before they are placed, hence any molecules available for detection must be expected to come primarily from surface contamination and leaks, rather than from diffusive processes. Fortunately, for the operator of the sensing system, IEDs, by their nature, are seldom assembled with the care or precision of a manufactured device. Hence, we may perhaps harbor a reasonable hope that the source produces a flux of molecules adequate to permit detection. 

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The 5,330 hectare (13,170 acre) Savanna Army Depot Activity, north of Savanna, IL, consists of high ground and Mississippi River flood plain. In the flood plain are 223 hectares of waterways connected to the river about 10 hectares of sediment plain in these waterways are considered potentially contaminated by munitions-related compounds (see Table I). Of these compounds, only TNT has been isolated (0.3 rag/kg in one sediment sample) DNT, TNB, and RDX are associated with TNT in other munitions contexts, hence they were also included. The waterways are fished by a number of activity personnel and retirees. These persons and their families may eat some of their catch, and thereby ingest those compounds that might be present in the fish (predominantly carp and catfish, both bottom-feeders). Acceptable safe sediment level guidance for these compounds was therefore desired. 

If no other sources exist, artillery and mortar shells, bombs, land mines, and other munitions may be cannibalized for the high explosives they contain. These munitions usually contain cast explosives, which require extra strong blasting caps or boosters to detonate. However, some of the simpler cannibalization techniques will be discussed. 

Ambros supplied the opinion, as requested. He wanted one office to direct war production. "If German rearmament is to proceed with the necessary speed and on national principles, one fully responsible office should be set up for chemical-warfare projects and for all other munitions."... 

The approved method for disposal of chemical agent and decontamination of other munition components Is incineration (2 ). Figure 2 presents the functional disposal process selected for this program. 

The agent-contaminated metal parts and other munition components are treated in a rotary hydrolyzer that rinses the parts with caustic solution and hydrolyzes any remaining chemical agent. 

Routine inspections of the stockpile storage igloos occasionally reveal the presence of leaking rockets or other munitions. When leakers are detected, they are overpacked and subsequently stored and handled separately. 

Verify that energetic materials encased in metal (e.g., rocket or other munitions fragments) will be hydrolyzed. 

Figure 4.4 is a similar diagram that would apply to a mine or other munition buried in the bed of the sea, a lake, or a stream. In Figure 4.4 the munition is shown partially buried, both to illustrate the different possibilities and to remind us that, while partially buried objects on dry land are usually found visually, submerged objects demand different search techniques. The exploitation of plumes will be discussed in Section 4.3.4 and in Chapter 5. 

Anaerobic slurry reactors have recently been developed to treat soil contaminated with compounds such as trinitrotoluene (TNT) and other munitions compounds that are more readily degraded anaerobically than aerobically. The time frame for... 

The nylon-coated bullets from Smith Wesson and the Geco TMJ bul-let/new primer composition, although effective in markedly reducing the lead levels, did not totally eliminate the problem. In 1983, Dynamit Nobel introduced 9 mmP caliber ammunition with a TMJ bullet and a primer free of lead, antimony, barium. The new primer type was called Sintox. A typical Sintox primer composition contains 15% diazodinitrophenol (DDNP) and 3% tetracene as the explosive ingredients, 50% zinc peroxide as the oxidizer, 5% of 40-pm size titanium metal powder, and 27% nitrocellulose as propellant powder.202 As expected, other munitions manufacturers eventually introduced similar ammunition, some with primers that were lead free but containing antimony and barium and others free of lead, antimony, and barium. The objective was to produce ammunition which performed satisfactorily in every way and did not produce any toxic product on discharge. 

Toxic chemical munitions, as well as other munitions within the stockpile, require periodic surveillance together with care and preservation, to be maintained in a serviceable and issuable condition. 

Placed Placed munitions are delivered to a target by hand and include land mines and smoke pots. These weapons usually contained from 3.8 to 191 (1-5 gallons) of liquid so they could be transported by one person. Explosive components, when used, were either installed or stored in the same container used to store the weapon. As with other munitions, fuzes or activators were not typically installed until ready for delivery. An example of a chemical land mine is shown in Figure 10. Smoke canisters typically used a slow-burning material to cause chemical fills to form a smoke. 

Fuller, M.E. and Manning, J.F. (1998) Evidence of differential effects of 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene and other munitions compounds on specific sub-populations of soil microbial communities. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 17, 2185-2195. 

As with other munition destruction systems, the Dynasafe will incur costs for setup, teardown, regulatory compliance, monitoring, lab support, and disposal of treated residuals such as metal fragments. The magnitude of these and other operating costs will depend on the specific application, the... 

Is the process capable of handling multiple munition types Yes. Has handled chemical projectiles up to 155-mm. Has destroyed wide range of conventional munitions. Has handled only two types of Japanese bombs so far. Needs to demonstrate ability to destroy other munition types. Yes. Has been used for a large variety of conventional items, e.g., grenades, cartridges, mortar rounds, projectiles, mines, fuzes. Yes, but size-limited. 

It is known that ruminal bacteria are capable of biotransforming toxic compounds found in plants at very fast rates, as well as other pollutants with chemical similarities to TNT and other munitions. In fact, among nitrated aromatic compounds that are biotransformed by ruminal bacteria are 3-nitropropionic acid, chloramphenicol, and nitrophenols. The authors used the rumen system to obtain a new isolate, which transforms TNT at rates much faster than previously reported and without any detectable... 

Within the United States, DOD estimates that over 900 military sites are contaminated with UXO. DOD estimates that it has already cost 10.3 billion through fiscal year 1994 to clean up sites contaminated with hazardous materials, including UXO, and that it will cost an additional 31 billion for future actions. In European countries, millions of bombs, landmines, and other munitions from World Wars I and II still remain uncleared. 

The installations on this list may contain buried ordnance or other munitions-related contamination sites not included in the Range Master List (Appendix V). In other words, bases without ranges may still have ordnance. 

IAEA monitors a much smaller and more specialised industry its remit is also restricted to civil and not military plants. As the chemical industries of the developed countries are large, diverse, and highly competitive, on-site inspection could raise legitimate fears about the protection of commercial and scientific secrets. As chemical weapons could be stored with other munitions or tested on the same proving grounds, on-site inspection could risk the disclosure of military secrets. These risks may seem more ominous when mutual confidence between the superpowers is low and more stringent degrees of verification are demanded."... 

An Iraqi 500-kg mustard homh. The note on the munition reads polymerred a reference that is unclear. It could mean that the munition used unique materials, or that the mustard fill was thickened with a polymer. This and other munitions were often found to he leaking at their storage sites. (Courtesy of United Nations, Photograph by H. Arvidsson.)... 

Explosion of dangerous material such as dynamite or other munitions. 

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