Thought I'd post this just to put into perspective what we have. It is from the Teledyne- Commodore web site but there is no date on the release:
Nonthermal Technology Successfully Destroys Chemical Weapons Explosives, Propellants, and Chemical Agents
The explosive component and propellant of an M55 nerve gas rocket have been successfully destroyed at a U.S. Army-certified commercial laboratory through a chemical process known as solvated electron technology developed by Teledyne-Commodore, LLC.
"The demilitarization of these materials using methods other than incineration has been one of the most difficult tasks in the Department of Defense Chemical Weapons Program," said Teledyne-Commodore President Gerald G. Watson, Major General (Ret.), who is the Army's former chief chemical officer.
"We consider this a major breakthrough in the search for alternative non-thermal technologies capable of destroying explosive materials in chemical weapons," Watson said.
Teledyne-Commodore, LLC, is a joint venture of Allegheny Teledyne Incorporated's (NYSE:ALT) wholly owned subsidiary, Teledyne Environmental, Inc., and Commodore Government Environment Technology, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Commodore Applied Technologies, Inc. (ASE:CXI).
Prior to the recent tests on explosives and propellant, Solvated Electron Technology (SET) successfully destroyed six different agents contained in stockpiled chemical munitions. The process also decontaminated the metal components and packing materials. All tests were conducted at federally licensed, independent chemical surety laboratories.
The tests were successfully performed on the four explosives associated with chemical munitions. These include nitroglycerin, nitrocellulose, TNT, and RDX.
The SET process renders explosives inert and simultaneously destroys any chemical agent that may have contaminated the explosives and propellant, according to Watson.
Reaction products remaining after the explosives and propellant were destroyed were tested in accordance with Department of Defense Explosive Safety Board guidance and Department of Transportation requirements. Drop weight sensitivity, friction sensitivity, thermal sensitivity, and small-scale burn tests all exceeded established standards.
Department of Defense chemical demilitarization measurements of success include neutralization of a wide spectrum of military chemical agents, decontamination of metal components, elimination of agent-contaminated dunnage material, and destruction of the explosives in chemical munitions.
"With the successful results of this explosives test, the SET process has now met all four of these requirements," Watson said. "This is critical to competing for the Alternative Technology Program under consideration by the Army for the destruction of assembled munitions."
The SET process is also significantly more cost-effective than other technologies, he added.
A major challenge to industry has been development of alternative technologies that destroy chemical agents and eliminate toxic chemicals from associated materials using a non-thermal, low-pressure method.
The SET process uses readily available materials and destroys all war gases, including Lewisite mustard, Sarin, and VX, while providing a reactant product that meets federal, state, and local Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) disposal standards. No detectable agent remains from the below-room-temperature process, and the overall waste stream is the least of any chemical agent neutralization process.
"This technological accomplishment will significantly aid the Army's support of Congressional efforts to field an alternative technology that meets the safety and agent destruction efficiency in consonance with our government's desire to eliminate both stockpile and non-stockpiled chemical weapons," Watson said.
Chemical agents have been stored for over 40 years on eight U.S. Army bases in the continental U.S. Currently, munitions are also stored on Johnston Island in the Pacific. These munitions were removed from forward deployed depots in Europe and the Far East.
The U.S. locations are Umatilla Depot Activity, Ore.; Tooele Army Depot, Utah; Pueblo Depot Activity, Col.; Pine Bluff Arsenal, Ark.; Newport Army Ammunition Plant, Ind.; Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.; Blue Grass Army Depot, Ky.; and Anniston Army Depot, Ala.
According to the U.S. Army Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program, more than 60 percent of the chemical agents are stored in bulk containers that have no explosive components. The remaining agents are found in battle munitions including bombs, mines, mortar rounds, rockets, spray tanks, and artillery projectiles of various sizes. |
