FIGURE 2-4 An 8-inch projectile. The 8-inch projectiles at BGAD do not contain any energetic materials. SOURCE: U.S. Army, 1983.

FIGURE 2-5 An M55 rocket. SOURCE: Beth Feinberg, Office of the Program Manager for Alternative Technologies and Approaches, presentation to the Committee on Review and Evaluation of the Army Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program, March 28, 2001.

In the agent processing building, the shells, still containing the burster well, will be moved on trays to the munition washout system (MWS) (second box in Figure 2-6). A robot will take a projectile from a tray and place that projectile into a cavity access machine in an inverted position. In the cavity access machine, an arm will dislodge the burster well by ramming it into the shell to expose the agent. The agent will then be drained and the interior of the shell washed using a high-pressure water wand. The chemical agent removed from the munition will then be transferred to the agent neutralization system, where it will be neutralized (third box in Figure 2-6). (Agent neutralization is described after the BGCAPP process description later in this chapter.) Hydrolysate will not be transferred from the agent neutralization system until it has been analyzed and verified that agent destruction is complete. The hydrolysate produced from the neutralization of mustard agent contains mostly thiodiglycol, which is biodegradable. The hydrolysate will thus be transferred to and treated in immobilized-cell bioreactors, where bacteria will feed on the thiodiglycol that is the prime