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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Disposal Options for the Rocket Motors From Nerve Agent Rockets Stored at Blue Grass Army Depot. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13439.
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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

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
www.nap.edu

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Disposal Options for the Rocket Motors From Nerve Agent Rockets Stored at Blue Grass Army Depot. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13439.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS      500 Fifth Street, NW      Washington, DC 20001

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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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Disposal Options for the Rocket Motors From Nerve Agent Rockets Stored at Blue Grass Army Depot. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13439.
×

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

Advisors to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Charles M. Vest is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Charles M. Vest are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.

www.national-academies.org

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Disposal Options for the Rocket Motors From Nerve Agent Rockets Stored at Blue Grass Army Depot. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13439.
×

 

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

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Disposal Options for the Rocket Motors From Nerve Agent Rockets Stored at Blue Grass Army Depot. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13439.
×

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

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Disposal Options for the Rocket Motors From Nerve Agent Rockets Stored at Blue Grass Army Depot. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13439.
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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

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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
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Disposal Options for the Rocket Motors From Nerve Agent Rockets Stored at Blue Grass Army Depot. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13439.
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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.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Disposal Options for the Rocket Motors From Nerve Agent Rockets Stored at Blue Grass Army Depot. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13439.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Disposal Options for the Rocket Motors From Nerve Agent Rockets Stored at Blue Grass Army Depot. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13439.
×

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
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2012. Disposal Options for the Rocket Motors From Nerve Agent Rockets Stored at Blue Grass Army Depot. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13439.
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The Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (BGCAPP) is under construction near Richmond, Kentucky, two dispose of one of the two remaining stockpiles of chemical munitions in the United States. The stockpile that BGCAPP will dispose of is stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot (BGAD). BGCAPP is a tenant activity on BGAD.

The stockpile stored at BGAD consists of mustard agent loaded in projectiles, and the nerve agents GB and VX loaded into projectiles and M55 rockets. BGCAPP will process the rockets by cutting them, still in their shipping and firing tube (SFT), between the warhead and motor sections of the rocket. The warhead will be processed through BGCAPP. The separated rocket motors that have been monitored for chemical agent and cleared for transportation outside of BGCAPP, the subject of this report, will be disposed of outside of BGCAPP. Any motors found to be contaminated with chemical agent will be processed through BGCAPP and are not addressed in this report.

Disposal Options for the Rocket Motors From Nerve Agent Rockets Stored at Blue Grass Army Depot addresses safety in handling the separated rocket motors with special attention to the electrical ignition system, the need for adequate storage space for the motors in order to maintain the planned disposal rate at BGCAPP, thermal and chemical disposal technologies, and on-site and off-site disposal options. On-site is defined as disposal on BGAD, and off-site is defined as disposal by a commercial or government facility outside of BGAD.

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