National Academies Press: OpenBook
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Recommendations for the Disposal of Chemical Agents and Munitions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2348.
×

Recommendations for the Disposal of Chemical Agents and Munitions

COMMITTEE ON REVIEW AND EVALUATION OF THE ARMY CHEMICAL STOCKPILE DISPOSAL PROGRAM

BOARD ON ARMY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

COMMISSION ON ENGINEERING AND TECHNICAL SYSTEMS

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL

National Academy Press
Washington, D.C.
1994

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Recommendations for the Disposal of Chemical Agents and Munitions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2348.
×

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 competencies and with regard for appropriate balance.

This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of 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. Bruce M. Alberts 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. Robert M. White 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. Kenneth I. Shine 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. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. Robert White are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.

This is a report of work supported by Contract DAAL03-90-C-0035 (CLIN OO1) between the U.S. Department of the Army and the National Academy of Sciences.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 94-65647

International Standard Book Number 0-309-05046-4

Copies available from:
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2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W. Box 285 Washington, D.C. 20005 (800) 624-6242, (202) 334-3313 (in the Washington Metropolitan Area)

B-323

Copyright 1994 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Recommendations for the Disposal of Chemical Agents and Munitions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2348.
×

Committee on Review and Evaluation of the Army Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program

CARL R. PETERSON, Chairman,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

ELISABETH M. DRAKE,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

COLIN G. DRURY,

University at Buffalo, State University of New York

GENE H. DYER, Consultant,

San Rafael, California

MG VINCENT E. FALTER,

USA Retired, Springfield, Virginia

ANN FISHER,

The Pennsylvania State University, University Park (from 3/93)

B. JOHN GARRICK,

Plg, Inc., Newport Beach, California

WILLIAM E. KASTENBERG,

University of California, Los Angeles (from 8/93)

CHARLES E. KOLB,

Aerodyne Research, Inc., Billerica, Massachusetts (from 8/93)

DAVID S. KOSSON,

Rutgers—The State University, Piscataway, New Jersey (from 8/93)

JOHN P. LONGWELL,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge

RICHARD S. MAGEE,

New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark

WALTER G. MAY,

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, (from 8/93)

ALVIN H. MUSHKATEL,

Arizona State University, Tempe

PETER J. NIEMIEC, Greenberg, Glusker, Fields, Claman & Machtinger,

Los Angeles, California

GEORGE PARSHALL,

E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Wilmington, Delaware

GAVRIEL SALVENDY,

Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana

JAMES R. WILD,

Texas A&M University, College Station (from 8/93)

Staff

DONALD L. SIEBENALER, Study Director

TRACY WILSON, Senior Program Officer

MARGO L. FRANCESCO, Senior Program Assistant

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Recommendations for the Disposal of Chemical Agents and Munitions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2348.
×

Board on Army Science and Technology

PHILIP A. ODEEN, Chairman,

BDM International, Inc., McLean, Virginia

LAWRENCE J. DELANEY, Vice Chairman,

Montgomery and Associates, Washington, D.C.

ROBERT A. BEAUDET,

University of Southern California, Los Angeles

WILLIAM K. BREHM,

Systems Research Applications Corporation, Arlington, Virginia

ALBERTO COLL,

U.S. Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island

WILLIAM H. EVERS, JR.,

W. J. Schafer Associates, Inc., Arlington, Virginia

JAMES L. FLANAGAN,

Center for Computer Aids in Industrial Productivity, Piscataway, New Jersey

CHRISTOPHER C. GREEN,

General Motors Research Laboratories, Warren, Michigan

ROBERT J. HEASTON,

Guidance and Control Information Analysis Center, Chicago, Illinois

THOMAS MCNAUGHER,

The Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C.

GENERAL GLENN K.

Otis, USA Retired, Coleman Research Corporation, Fairfax, Virginia

NORMAN F. PARKER,

Varian Associates (Retired), Cardiff by the Sea, California

KATHLEEN J. ROBERTSON,

Center for Naval Analysis, Alexandria, Virginia

HARVEY W. SCHADLER,

General Electric Company, Schenectady, New York

F. STAN SETTLES,

The Garrett Corporation (Retired), Tempe, Arizona

JOYCE L. SHIELDS,

Hay Systems, Inc., Washington, D.C.

DANIEL C. TSUI,

Princeton University, New Jersey

ALLEN C. WARD,

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Staff

BRUCE A. BRAUN, Director

ALBERT A. SCIARRETTA, Senior Program Officer

DONALD L. SIEBENALER, Senior Program Officer

TRACY D. WILSON, Senior Program Officer

HELEN D. JOHNSON, Staff Associate

ANN M. STARK, Program Associate

MARGO L. FRANCESCO, Senior Program Assistant

LUCY V. FUSCO, Senior Secretary

ALLISON P. KNIGHT, Administrative Secretary

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Recommendations for the Disposal of Chemical Agents and Munitions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2348.
×

Preface

The United States has maintained a stockpile of highly toxic chemical agents and munitions for more than half a century. In 1985, Congress, in Public Law 99-145, directed the Department of Defense to destroy at least 90 percent of the unitary chemical agent and munitions stockpile, with particular attention to M55 rockets, which were deteriorating and becoming increasingly hazardous. The program has expanded to treat the entire unitary stockpile, and after setting several intermediate goals and dates, Congress, in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1993, dated October 28, 1992, directed the Army to dispose of the entire unitary chemical warfare agent and munitions stockpile by December 31, 2004.

The Army had commissioned studies of different disposal technologies and tested several in the 1970s. In 1982, incineration was selected as the method to dispose of agents and associated propellants and explosives, and to thermally decontaminate metal parts. In 1984, the National Research Council (NRC) Committee on Demilitarizing Chemical Munitions and Agents reviewed a range of disposal technologies and endorsed the Army's selection of incineration.

Incineration technology is embodied in today's "baseline" disposal system, developed largely at the Chemical Agent Munitions Disposal System (CAMDS) experimental facility at Tooele Army Depot, Utah. The first full-scale operational plant is now in service at the Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System (JACADS) on Johnston Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, southwest of Hawaii. The second operational plant has just been completed at Tooele and is undergoing "systemization" testing, which uses surrogates for agent to verify that all components of the system work as designed. Similar facilities are planned for the remaining seven continental agent and munitions storage sites.

The Committee on Review and Evaluation of the Army Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program (Stockpile Committee) was formed in 1987 at the request of the Undersecretary of the Army to monitor the disposal program and to review and comment on relevant technical issues. The Stockpile Committee is a standing committee, to remain in service with rotating

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Recommendations for the Disposal of Chemical Agents and Munitions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2348.
×

personnel until completion of the disposal program. The Stockpile Committee has monitored the development and implementation of the baseline system; has visited CAMDS numerous times, JACADS three times, and the new facility at Tooele twice; and has issued numerous reports on various aspects of the disposal program.

There is public concern with the selection of incineration as the process for destruction of chemical agents. In March 1991, the Stockpile Committee suggested, and the Army agreed, that a new study of alternatives to incineration be undertaken. Accordingly, the Committee on Alternative Chemical Demilitarization Technologies (Alternatives Committee) was established in January 1992 to develop a comprehensive list of alternative technologies and to review their capabilities and potential as agent and munitions disposal technologies. That committee's report, Alternative Technologies for the Destruction of Chemical Agents and Munitions , was issued in June 1993. The Alternatives Committee report serves as a reference document but does not make recommendations. It was planned in 1991 that the Stockpile Committee, working with the report of the Alternatives Committee and with its own knowledge of the baseline system and disposal requirements, would formulate recommendations regarding the pursuit of potential alternatives to incineration. In the course of formulating its recommendations, the Stockpile Committee and the Alternatives Committee held a public forum in June 1993 to learn more about the public's concerns with the planned disposal operations.

The Defense Authorization Act of 1992 also directed the Army to submit to Congress, not later than December 31, 1993 (extended to 60 days following delivery of this report), a report on potential alternatives to the baseline system. That report is to contain an analysis of the Alternatives Committee report and "any recommendations that the National Academy of Sciences makes to the Army ...". This report provides those recommendations to the Army.

This report has been a true committee effort, with major contributions from practically each and every member to the discussions, deliberations, and writing. The committee is particularly pleased with the unstinting support from NRC staff members Margo Francesco, Robert Katt, Donald Siebenaler, and Tracy Wilson.

Carl R. Peterson, Chairman

Committee on Review and Evaluation of the Army Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Recommendations for the Disposal of Chemical Agents and Munitions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2348.
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Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Recommendations for the Disposal of Chemical Agents and Munitions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2348.
×
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Recommendations for the Disposal of Chemical Agents and Munitions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2348.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Recommendations for the Disposal of Chemical Agents and Munitions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2348.
×

Figures

2-1

 

M55 rocket and M23 land mine.

 

36

2-2

 

105-mm, 155-mm, 8-inch, and 4.2-inch projectiles.

 

37

2-3

 

Bomb, spray tank, and ton container.

 

38

2-4

 

Types of agent and munitions, and percentage of total agent stockpile (by weight of agent at each storage site).

 

39

4-1

 

Types of risk.

 

64

4-2

 

Sources of risk.

 

65

4-3

 

Risk of stockpile storage and disposal.

 

74

4-4

 

Potential cumulative consequences of delayed disposal, for constant storage and disposal risk.

 

76

5-1

 

Schematic of the baseline system.

 

86

5-2

 

Schematic diagram of the pollution abatement systems.

 

91

B-1

 

Letter of invitation to public forum.

 

146

C-1

 

Contaminant concentration profiles in a charcoal bed.

 

150

E-1

 

Block diagram of a neutralization-based system for destruction of chemical warfare agents.

 

167

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Recommendations for the Disposal of Chemical Agents and Munitions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2348.
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Tables

1-1

 

Presentation by Dr. Carl R. Peterson during the June 30, 1993, Public Forum

 

28

1-2

 

Prior Public Concerns About the Disposal Program

 

29

1-3

 

Schedule for the Construction and Operation of Chemical Stockpile Disposal Facilities (December 1993)

 

33

2-1

 

Composition of Munitions in the U.S. Chemical Stockpile

 

40

2-2

 

Chemical Munitions Stored in the Continental United States

 

41

2-3

 

Approximate Amounts of Metals, Energetics, and Agent Contained in the Unitary Chemical Weapons Stockpile (tons), by Site

 

42

2-4

 

Toxic Chemical Munition Leakers

 

45

2-5

 

Estimated Date at Which 0.5 Percent Stabilizer Levels Would Be Reached in Most Rapidly Deteriorating M55 Lots

 

48

3-1

 

Air and Exposure Standards

 

54

4-1

 

Scope of Risk Assessment

 

79

6-1

 

Summary of Process Capabilities and Status

 

102

Page xiii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Recommendations for the Disposal of Chemical Agents and Munitions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2348.
×

Abbreviations and Acronyms


ACAMS

Automated Continuous Agent Monitoring System

AChE

Acetylcholinesterase

APE

Ammunition Peculiar Equipment

ARPA

Advanced Research Projects Agency

ATSDR

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry


BRA

Brine Reduction Area


CAMDS

Chemical Agent Munitions Disposal System

CERCLA

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act

CSDP

Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program


DAAMS

Depot Area Air Monitoring System

DMMP

Dimethoxy Methyl Phosphate

DOD

Department of Defense

DPE

Demilitarization Protective Ensemble

DRE

Destruction Removal Efficiency

DUN

Dunnage Furnace


EEG

Electroencephalograph

EMPA

Ethylmethylphosphoric Acid

EPA

Environmental Protection Agency

ERDEC

Edgewood Research, Development and Engineering Center


GA

Tabun

GB

Sarin

GD

Soman

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Recommendations for the Disposal of Chemical Agents and Munitions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2348.
×

H, HD, HT

Blister or Mustard Agents

HEPA

High-Efficiency Particulate Air


IBP

Kitazin P

ID

Induced Draft

in.

Inch


JACADS

Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System

JSLRMDP

Joint Services Large Rocket Motor Disposal Program


lb

Pound

LIC

Liquid Incinerator


m3

Cubic Meter

mg

Milligram

min

Minute

mm

Millimeter

mM

Millimolar

μm

Micromole

MPF

Metal Parts Furnace


NDPA

2-Nitrodiphenylamine

NOEL

No-Observed-Effect-Level

NOx

Nitrogen Oxides

NPDES

National Pollution Discharge Elimination System

NRC

National Research Council


OPH

Organophosphorus Hydrolase

OTA

Office of Technology Assessment

OVT

Operational Verification Testing


PCB

Polychlorinated Biphenyl

PEIS

Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement

PIC

Product of Incomplete Combustion

POHC

Principal Organic Hazardous Constituent

ppm

Parts per Million

psi

Pounds per Square Inch


RCRA

Resource Conservation and Recovery Act


SAIC

Science Applications International Corporation

SCWO

Supercritical Water Oxidation

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Recommendations for the Disposal of Chemical Agents and Munitions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2348.
×

TDG

Thiodiglycol

TSCA

Toxic Substances Control Act


USATHAMA

U.S. Army Toxic and Hazardous Materials Agency


VOC

Volatile Organic Compound

VX

Organophosphate Nerve Agent


WAO

Wet Air Oxidation

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Recommendations for the Disposal of Chemical Agents and Munitions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/2348.
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The U.S. Army's chemical stockpile is aging and gradually deteriorating. Its elimination has public, political, and environmental ramifications. The U.S. Department of Defense has designated the Department of the Army as the executive agent responsible for the safe, timely, and effective elimination of the chemical stockpile. This book provides recommendations on the direction the Army should take in pursuing and completing its Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program.

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