Assessment of the Continuing Operability of Chemical Agent Disposal Facilities and Equipment
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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 No. W911NF-06-C-0041 between the National Academy of Sciences and the Department of Defense. 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.
Cover: Shown clockwise from upper center are representative types of equipment used in disassembly of chemical munitions and containers: (1) a munitions demilitarization machine, (2) a bulk drain station, (3) a transfer conveyor and mine machine, and (4) a fuzewell assembly removal station on the mine machine. Photographs taken at the Chemical Demilitarization Training Facility in Edgewood, Maryland, and provided courtesy of Colin Drury.
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CCOMMITTEE ON CONTINUING OPERABILITY OF CHEMICAL AGENT DISPOSAL FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT
ELISABETH M. DRAKE, Chair,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (retired), Cambridge, Massachusetts
OTIS A. SHELTON, Vice Chair,
Praxair Inc., Danbury, Connecticut
JAMES L. BACON,
Development Alliance of Jefferson County, Arkansas
ROBERT L. CATTOI,
Rockwell International Corporation (retired), Dallas, Texas
COLIN G. DRURY,
University of Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York
J. ROBERT GIBSON,
Gibson Consulting LLC, Wilmington, Delaware
DAVID A. HOECKE,
Enercon Systems Inc., Elyria, Ohio
PETER B. LEDERMAN,
Hazardous Substance Management Research Center, New Jersey Institute of Technology (retired), New Providence, New Jersey
CHARLES I. McGINNIS, MG U.S. Army (retired),
Charlottesville, Virginia
A. CHARLES ROWNEY, ACR LLC,
Longwood, Florida
Staff
HARRISON T. PANNELLA, Study Director (September 2006 to February 2007)
ROBERT J. LOVE, Study Director (January 2006 to August 2006)
NIA D. JOHNSON, Research Associate
ALEXANDER R. REPACE, Senior Program Assistant
BOARD ON ARMY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
MALCOLM R. O’NEILL, Chair,
Lockheed Martin Corporation (retired), Vienna, Virginia
HENRY J. HATCH, Vice Chair,
Army Chief of Engineers (retired), Oakton, Virginia
RAJ AGGARWAL,
Rockwell Collins, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
SETH BONDER,
The Bonder Group, Ann Arbor, Michigan
NORVAL L. BROOME, MITRE
Corporation (retired), Suffolk, Virginia
JAMES CARAFANO,
The Heritage Foundation, Washington, D.C.
ROBERT L. CATTOI,
Rockwell International Corporation (retired), Dallas, Texas
DARRELL W. COLLIER,
U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command (retired), Leander, Texas
ALAN H. EPSTEIN,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
ROBERT R. EVERETT,
MITRE Corporation (retired), New Seabury, Massachusetts
WILLIAM R. GRAHAM,
National Security Research Inc. (retired), San Marino, California
PETER F. GREEN,
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
CARL GUERRERI,
Electronic Warfare Associates Inc., Herndon, Virginia
M. FREDERICK HAWTHORNE,
University of California, Los Angeles
CLARENCE W. KITCHENS,
Science Applications International Corporation, Vienna, Virginia
LARRY LEHOWICZ,
Quantum Research International, Arlington, Virginia
JOHN W. LYONS,
U.S. Army Research Laboratory (retired), Ellicott City, Maryland
EDWARD K. REEDY,
Georgia Tech Research Institute (retired), Atlanta
DENNIS J. REIMER,
DFI International, Washington, D.C.
WALTER D. SINCOSKIE,
Telcordia Technologies Inc., Morristown, New Jersey
JUDITH L. SWAIN,
University of California, San Diego
WILLIAM R. SWARTOUT,
Institute for Creative Technologies, Marina del Rey, California
EDWIN L. THOMAS,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
BARRY M. TROST,
Stanford University, Stanford, California
Staff
BRUCE A. BRAUN, Director
DETRA BODRICK-SHORTER, Administrative Coordinator
CHRIS JONES, Financial Associate
DEANNA P. SPARGER, Program Administrative Coordinator
Preface
As the timeline for destruction of chemical weapons lengthens, there is concern that destruction facilities may face growing operational problems from processing a deteriorating stockpile with aging equipment. The challenges of continuing operability and the threat of obsolescence cannot be ignored. We would like to thank the committee for its hard work in visiting, interviewing, and assessing pertinent issues at each of the incineration sites, and for developing findings and recommendations to address these concerns.
The committee in turn is grateful to the Chemical Materials Agency, its staff, field offices, and site contractors for the timely and useful information they provided. We also greatly appreciate the support and assistance of the National Research Council (NRC) staff who ably assisted the committee in its fact-finding activities and in the production of this report.
The study was conducted under the auspices of the National Research Council’s Board on Army Science and Technology (BAST). The BAST was established in 1982 as a unit of the National Research Council at the request of the United States Army. The BAST brings to bear broad military, industrial, and academic scientific, engineering, and management expertise on Army technical challenges and other issues of importance to senior Army leaders. The board discusses potential studies of interest; develops and frames study tasks; ensures proper project planning; suggests potential committee members and reviewers for reports produced by fully independent ad hoc study committees; and convenes meetings to examine strategic issues. Board members with appropriate expertise are sometimes nominated to serve as formal members of study committees, or as report reviewers. The board members listed in this report were not asked to endorse the committee’s conclusions or recommendations, nor did they review the final draft of this report before its release.
Elisabeth Drake, Chair
Otis Shelton, Vice Chair
Committee on Continuing Operability of Chemical Agent Disposal Facilities and Equipment
Acknowledgment of Reviewers
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 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:
Joan B. Berkowitz, Farkas Berkowitz & Company,
Michael Crandall, University of Washington,
Deborah Grubbe, British Petroleum (BP) PLC,
Allen F. Grum, Army Research Laboratory (retired),
Dennis C. Hendershot, Chilworth Technology Inc.,
Neal Langerman, Advanced Chemical Safety Inc.,
Richard S. Magee, Carmagen Engineering Inc.,
Douglas M. Medville, MITRE (retired),
George W. Parshall, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company (retired),
Joseph E. Pecoraro, Parsons Infrastructure and Technology Corporation, and
Robert B. Puyear, Consultant, Chesterfield, Missouri.
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 Henry J. Hatch, Army Chief of Engineers (retired). 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.
Tables, Figures, and Boxes
TABLES
S-1 |
Tier-Level Hierarchy for Related Recommendations, |
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1-1 |
Stockpile Sites and Disposal Status as of January 2006, |
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1-2 |
Tier-Level Hierarchy for Related Recommendations, |
FIGURES
1-1 |
Conceptual framework for achieving continuing operability, |
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2-1 |
Schematic of the baseline incineration system, |
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2-2 |
Schematic of chemical demilitarization incineration furnaces and a typical pollution abatement system without carbon filter, |
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2-3 |
Schematic of the chemical demilitarization pollution abatement system for the metal parts furnace with carbon filter, |
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2-4 |
Schematic of the current TOCDF process control system architecture, |
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2-5 |
Schematic of the future TOCDF process control system architecture, |
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5-1 |
General organizational structure for the chemical stockpile disposal program management pre-2002, |
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5-2 |
General organizational structure for the chemical stockpile disposal program management post-2003, |
BOXES
Abbreviations
ABCDF Aberdeen Chemical Agent Disposal Facility (Maryland)
ACAMS automatic continuous air monitoring system
ACWA Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives
ANCDF Anniston Chemical Agent Disposal Facility (Alabama)
BAST Board on Army Science and Technology
BDS bulk drain station
BGCAPP Blue Grass Chemical Agent Destruction Pilot Plant (Kentucky)
BHS bulk handling system
CAMDS Chemical Agent Munitions Disposal System
CDTF Chemical Demilitarization Training Facility (Edgewood, Maryland)
CHB container handling building
CMA (U.S. Army) Chemical Materials Agency
CWC Chemical Weapons Convention
DAAMS depot area air monitoring system
DCD Deseret Chemical Depot (Utah)
DCP document change procedure
DFS deactivation furnace system
DOD Department of Defense
DOT Department of Transportation
DPE demilitarization protective ensemble
DPPBI Director’s Programmatic Performance-Based Incentive
ECP engineering change proposal
ECR explosion containment room
GA tabun (a nerve agent)
GB sarin (a nerve agent)
H sulfur mustard
HAZWOPER hazardous waste and emergency response (standard)
HD sulfur mustard (distilled)
HEPA high-efficiency particulate air
HMI human-machine interface
HRO high reliability organization
HT sulfur mustard, T-mustard mixture
HVAC heating, ventilation and air conditioning
I/O input/output
JACADS Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System (South Pacific Ocean)
LAN local area network
LIC liquid agent incinerator
MACT maximum achievable control technology
MDB munitions demilitarization building
MDMs multipurpose demilitarization machines
MHS mine handling system
MiniCAMS miniature chemical agent monitoring system
MM mine machine (drain station)
MPB munitions processing bay or building
MPF metal parts furnace
NECDF Newport Chemical Agent Disposal Facility (Indiana)
NRC National Research Council
OEM original equipment manufacturer
OEM-LP obsolescent equipment management lifecycle program
OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Administration
PAS pollution abatement system
PBCDF Pine Bluff Chemical Agent Disposal Facility (Arkansas)
PCAPP Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (Colorado)
PDARS process data acquisition and recording system
PFS PAS carbon bed filter system
PHS projectile handling system
PLCs programmable logic controllers
PMCD program manager for chemical demilitarization
PMCSD project manager for chemical stockpile demilitarization
PMCSE project manager for chemical stockpile elimination
PMD projectile or mortar disassembly (machine)
RCRA Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
RFID radio frequency identification
RHS rocket handling system
RIR recordable injury rate
RSM rocket shear machine
SCBA self-contained breathing apparatus
TOCDF Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility (Utah)
UMCDF Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility (Oregon)
UPA unpack area
VX a nerve agent