Disposal Options for the Rocket Motors from Nerve
Agent Rockets Stored at Blue Grass Army Depot
Committee on Disposal Options for the Rocket Motors of Nerve Agent Rockets at Blue
Grass Army Depot
Board on Army Science and Technology
Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by Contract/Grant No. W911NF-12-01-0075 between the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Army. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.
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COMMITTEE ON DISPOSAL OPTIONS FOR THE ROCKET MOTORS OF
NERVE AGENT ROCKETS AT BLUE GRASS ARMY DEPOT
RANDAL J. KELLER, Chair, Murray State University, Murray, Kentucky
JUDITH BRADBURY, Consultant, Knoxville, Tennessee
RANDALL J. CRAMER, Navy Ordnance Environmental Support, Indian Head, Maryland
ERIC D. ERICKSON, Naval Air Warfare Center, China Lake, California
BRAD E. FORCH, U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Research, Development and
Engineering Command, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland
SCOTT E. MEYER, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
BOBBY L. WILSON, Texas Southern University, Houston, Texas
Staff
BRUCE BRAUN, Director, Board on Army Science and Technology
JAMES C. MYSKA, Senior Research Associate, Study Director
DEANNA SPARGER, Program Administrative Coordinator
BOARD ON ARMY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
ALAN H. EPSTEIN, Chair, Pratt & Whitney, East Hartford, Connecticut
DAVID M. MADDOX, Vice Chair, Independent Consultant, Arlington, Virginia
DUANE ADAMS, Independent Consultant, Arlington, Virginia
ILESANMI ADESIDA, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
MARY E. BOYCE, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
EDWARD C. BRADY, Strategic Perspectives, Inc., Fort Lauderdale, Florida
W. PETER CHERRY, Independent Consultant, Ann Arbor, Michigan
EARL H. DOWELL, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
JULIA D. ERDLEY, Pennsylvania State University, State College
LESTER A. FOSTER, Electronic Warfare Associates, Herndon, Virginia
JAMES A. FREEBERSYSER, BBN Technology, St. Louis Park, Minnesota
RONALD P. FUCHS, Independent Consultant, Seattle, Washington
W. HARVEY GRAY, Independent Consultant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
JOHN J. HAMMOND, Lockheed Martin Corporation (retired), Fairfax, Virginia
RANDALL W. HILL, JR., University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies, Playa Vista
JOHN W. HUTCHINSON, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
MARY JANE IRWIN, Pennsylvania State University, University Park
ROBIN L. KEESEE, Independent Consultant, Fairfax, Virginia
ELLIOT D. KIEFF, Channing Laboratory, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts
WILLIAM L. MELVIN, Georgia Tech Research Institute, Smyrna
ROBIN MURPHY, Texas A&M University, College Station
SCOTT PARAZYNSKI, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston
RICHARD R. PAUL, Independent Consultant, Bellevue, Washington
JEAN D. REED, Independent Consultant, Arlington, Virginia
LEON E. SALOMON, Independent Consultant, Gulfport, Florida
JONATHAN M. SMITH, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia
MARK J.T. SMITH, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
MICHAEL A. STROSCIO, University of Illinois, Chicago
DAVID A. TIRRELL, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
JOSEPH YAKOVAC, JVM LLC, Hampton, Virginia
Staff
BRUCE A. BRAUN, Director
CHRIS JONES, Financial Associate
DEANNA P. SPARGER, Program Administrative Coordinator
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Preface
The Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (BGCAPP), under the management of the Program Executive Officer for Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives (PEO ACWA), is responsible for destroying the chemical weapons stockpiles currently being stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot (BGAD) and the Pueblo Chemical Depot. The BGAD stockpile consists of 523 tons of mustard agent loaded in projectiles and nerve agents GB and VX loaded in both projectiles and rockets. The rocket portion of the stockpile at BGAD consists of approximately 70,000 M55 rockets. BGCAPP will destroy the M55 rockets in a process where the first step will be to cut the rocket and separate it into the rocket warhead and the rocket motor. The rocket warhead will be destroyed at BGCAPP by chemical neutralization followed by supercritical water oxidation. Although the BGCAPP facility will have the capability for destroying an entire M55 rocket, owing to a design change in the mid-2000s the separated rocket motors will be disposed of at a place other than BGCAPP.
Disposing of the separated rocket motors outside of BGCAPP presents some unique safety and environmental challenges, so the PEO ACWA asked the National Research Council (NRC) to conduct a study to offer guidance on technologies and options for the disposal of the separated rocket motors. The committee that was assembled by the NRC held a number of meetings, a virtual meeting, and teleconferences. It also visited the BGCAPP project offices in Richmond, Kentucky.
The focus of this report is on the potential sites and technologies that might be used to dispose of the separated rocket motors outside of BGCAPP. These options include treatment and disposal on-site at BGAD or off-site at a commercial or governmental facility. Potential technologies, primarily thermal and chemical, that could be used to dispose of the separated rocket motors are discussed. The report also addresses safety, storage, throughput, and transportation.
As chair of this committee, I want to express my sincere thanks to the members of the committee for their work on this report. Their expertise in energetics as well as their experience with the safe disposal of conventional munitions was invaluable in addressing the statement of task. I would also like to thank James Myska, senior research associate at the Board on Army Science and Technology, and Bruce Braun, director of the Board on Army Science and Technology, for their contributions in running this study. Mr. Myska did an outstanding job on this project. He mastered the subject matter, kept the committee
focused on the statement of task, and ensured that the writing was concise and accomplished in a timely manner. Lastly, I want to thank Deanna Sparger for her invaluable administrative and research support to the committee.
Randal J. Keller, Chair Committee on Disposal Options for the Rocket Motors of Nerve Agent Rockets at Blue Grass Army Depot |
Acknowledgments
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s (NRC’s) Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
Ruth Doherty, Naval Surface Warfare Center,
Rebecca Haffenden, Argonne National Laboratory,
Jeffrey L. Lee, U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command,
Hyla Napadensky, Independent Consultant,
James Neidert, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Development and Engineering Center,
Carol A. Palmiotto, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company,
Stanley Sandler (NAE), University of Delaware,
Leonard Siegel, Center for Public Environmental Oversight, and
Stefan Thynell, Pennsylvania State University.
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Royce W. Murray (NAS). Appointed by the National Research Council, he was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.
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4 STORAGE OF SEPARATED ROCKET MOTORS
The Need for Storage Space for Separated Rocket Motors
Requirements for Storage of Separated Rocket Motors
Creating Additional Storage Space at the Blue Grass Army Depot
Returning Separated Rocket Motors to the M55 Rocket Storage Igloos
Propellant Degradation, Stabilizer Depletion, and Storage Risk
5 OPTIONS FOR DISPOSAL OF SEPARATED ROCKET MOTORS
Open-Burning of Propellant Grain at the BGAD Permitted Facility
Use of the Existing D-100 Detonation Chamber at BGAD
Alternative Disposal Technologies That Could Be Added to BGAD Capabilities
Shipping and Firing Tube Management
Transportation of Separated Rocket Motors
On-site Transportation of Separated Rocket Motors
Off-site Transportation of Separated Rocket Motors
Advantages and Disadvantages of On-site Separated Rocket Motor Disposal
Advantages and Disadvantages of Off-site Separated Rocket Motor Disposal
Tables and Figures
TABLES
1-1 Time-Weighted Average Maximum Exposure Limits
2-1 Nominal Composition of M28 Propellant
2-2 Hazard Classifications Applied to Explosive Materials
3-2 Technology Status and Applicability
FIGURES
1-1 Simplified diagram of an M55 rocket in its shipping and firing tube, showing where the tube and rocket will be cut
1-2 Cutaway depiction of an M55 rocket in flight configuration with fins deployed
1-3 Simplified layout of a separated rocket motor showing its major components
4-1 Diagram showing the importance of storage for the disposal of separated rocket motors
Abbreviations and Acronyms
BGAD | Blue Grass Army Depot |
BGCAPP | Blue Grass Chemical Agent Disposal Pilot Plant |
CAC | Citizens’ Advisory Commission |
CDCAB | Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board |
DAVINCH | Detonation of Ammunition in a Vacuum Integrated Chamber |
DoD | Department of Defense |
EDS | explosive destruction system |
EDT | explosive destruction technology |
EONC | enhanced on-site container |
EPA | Environmental Protection Agency |
ESD | electrostatic discharge |
GB | a nerve agent, also known as sarin |
GPL | general population limit |
HAWG | hazards analysis working group |
HERO | hazards of electromagnetic radiation to ordnance |
KAR | Kentucky Administrative Rules |
KDEP | Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection |
KRS | Kentucky Revised Statutes |
MPPEH | materials potentially presenting an explosive hazard |
PCB | polychlorinated biphenyl |
PEO ACWA | Program Executive Officer for Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives |
POP | performance oriented packaging |
RCRA | Resource Conservation and Recovery Act |
SCWO | supercritical water oxidation |
SDC | Static Detonation Chamber, manufactured by Dynasafe AB |
SFT | shipping and firing tube |
SOP | standard operating procedure |
STEL | short-term exposure limit |
TSCA | Toxic Substances Control Act |
VX | a nerve agent |