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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
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
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
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
Figures
2-1 |
M55 rocket and M23 land mine. |
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2-2 |
105-mm, 155-mm, 8-inch, and 4.2-inch projectiles. |
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2-3 |
Bomb, spray tank, and ton container. |
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2-4 |
Types of agent and munitions, and percentage of total agent stockpile (by weight of agent at each storage site). |
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4-1 |
Types of risk. |
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4-2 |
Sources of risk. |
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4-3 |
Risk of stockpile storage and disposal. |
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4-4 |
Potential cumulative consequences of delayed disposal, for constant storage and disposal risk. |
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5-1 |
Schematic of the baseline system. |
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5-2 |
Schematic diagram of the pollution abatement systems. |
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B-1 |
Letter of invitation to public forum. |
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C-1 |
Contaminant concentration profiles in a charcoal bed. |
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E-1 |
Block diagram of a neutralization-based system for destruction of chemical warfare agents. |
Tables
1-1 |
Presentation by Dr. Carl R. Peterson during the June 30, 1993, Public Forum |
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1-2 |
Prior Public Concerns About the Disposal Program |
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1-3 |
Schedule for the Construction and Operation of Chemical Stockpile Disposal Facilities (December 1993) |
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2-1 |
Composition of Munitions in the U.S. Chemical Stockpile |
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2-2 |
Chemical Munitions Stored in the Continental United States |
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2-3 |
Approximate Amounts of Metals, Energetics, and Agent Contained in the Unitary Chemical Weapons Stockpile (tons), by Site |
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2-4 |
Toxic Chemical Munition Leakers |
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2-5 |
Estimated Date at Which 0.5 Percent Stabilizer Levels Would Be Reached in Most Rapidly Deteriorating M55 Lots |
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3-1 |
Air and Exposure Standards |
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4-1 |
Scope of Risk Assessment |
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6-1 |
Summary of Process Capabilities and Status |
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
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